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CHRISTIAN    SPIRITUALITY 


CHRISTIAN 
SPIRITUALITY 

LATER    DEVELOPMENTS 

PART  I 
FROM  THE  RENAISSANCE  TO  JANSENISM 


By  the  REV.   P.    POURRAT 

Superieur    du     Grand   Seminaire    de    Lyon 
Translated    by    JV.    H.    (MITCHELL,   M.A. 


\   ■ ■ 


LONDON 

BURNS    OATES  AND 
WASHBOURNE     LTD. 

MCMXXVII 


NIHIL  OBSTAT : 

Fr.  Innocentius  Apap,  O.P.,  S.Th.M., 
Censor  Deputatus. 

IMPRIMATUR  : 

Edm.  Can.   Surmont, 
Vicarius  Generalis. 

Westmonastkrii, 
die  28^  Julii,  1927. 


JAN  1  7  1950 


First  "published  1927 


Made  and  Printed  in  Great  Britait 


PREFACE 


THIS  volume  begins  with  the  Renaissance  and  ends 
with  Jansenism,  covering-  from  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
It  takes  in  the  great  schools  of  spirituality  of 
modern  times  :  the  Spanish,  Italian,  Salesian,  and 
French  Schools. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Salesian  School,  the  others  are 
divided  between  the  great  Catholic  nations  which  filled  the 
political  stage  of  Europe  during  that  period  :  Spain,  Italy, 
and  France. 

Indeed,  the  principle  of  nationality  asserted  itself  in  a  very 
remarkable  way,  especially  from  the  time  of  the  Renaissance. 
This  tendency  of  each  nation  to  converge  upon  the  lines  of 
its  own  genius  and  language  and  religion  reacted  upon  every 
manifestation  of  its  life,  and  therefore  upon  its  spirituality. 
Hence  we  actually  find  in  recent  times  a  Spanish  spirituality, 
an  Italian  spirituality,  and  a  French  spirituality,  a  spirituality 
which  is  fundamentally  one  and  the  same  so  far  as  it  is 
Catholic,  but  differs  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  conceived  and 
presented. 

Therefore  the  schools  of  spirituality  of  the  later  period  no 
longer  appear  simply  as  belonging  to  religious  families,  as 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  as  those  of  nations.  In  each  school, 
no  doubt,  the  various  religious  orders  keep  their  peculiar 
characteristics ;  but  they  owe  much  to  the  national  bent  and 
interests  and  to  the  special  currents  of  doctrine  distinctive  of 
each  country.  Thus  the  spirituality  of  Spanish  writers  cannot 
be  thoroughly  understood  without  some  knowledge  of  the 
truceless  and  merciless  war  waged  by  the  Spanish  Inquisition 
during  the  sixteenth  century  against  Protestant  heresy  and 
false  mysticism.  The  Inquisition  reacted  strongly  upon 
Spanish  spirituality  by  enlisting  it  on  behalf  of  its  own 
interests,  and  thus  was  realised  the  unity  of  the  Spanish 
School. 

In  Italy  unity  was  due  to  an  analogous  cause.  Despite  the 
diversity  of  the  small  States  of  the  peninsula,  we  find  in  all 
of  them  during  the  sixteenth  century  the  fear  of  an  infiltra- 
tion of  Protestantism,  along  with  a  sincere  desire  for  Church 
reform,  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  The 
paganism  of  the  Renaissance,  too,  had  to  be  countered  with- 
out rejecting  whatever  good  there  might  be  in  humanism. 
Hence  came  that  Italian  spirituality  which  urges  men  on  to 

v 


vi  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

inward  struggle,  of  which  we  have  a  grand  example  in  The 
Spiritual  Combat. 

In  France  it  was  Cardinal  de  Be>ulle's  Oratory  that  gave 
unity  to  spirituality  in  the  seventeenth  century.  All  the 
great  writers  of  that  period  were  Berullians,  and  made  what 
is  called  the  French  School.  The  counter-reformation  in 
France  was  therefore  Berullian. 

Thus  the  history  of  the  spirituality  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  is  clearly  divided  into  four  parts,  which 
correspond  to  the  four  great  schools  :  Spanish,  Italian, 
Salesian,  and  French. 

As  everyone  knows,  the  Renaissance  and  the  Protestant 
Reformation  have  had  an  enormous  influence  upon  the  forma- 
tion of  the  modern  mind.  A  kind  of  humanism — a  devout 
sort  of  humanism — is  amalgamated  in  some  spiritual  books 
with  Christian  asceticism.  But  such  fusion  has  not  been 
wrought  without  difficulty,  for  if  the  Renaissance  has  its 
good  side,  we  cannot  forget  that  it  revived  the  old  paganism. 
Spiritual  writers  could  not  but  react  strongly  against  such 
paganism.  It  was  indeed — at  least  I  shall  try  to  show  it — 
the  desire  to  keep  the  spiritual  life  free  from  the  pagan  spirit 
of  the  Renaissance  that  resulted  in  the  development  of 
methodical  prayer.  As  the  Christian  found  himself  sur- 
rounded with  nothing  but  enticements  to  evil,  he  had  to  fall 
back  upon  himself  and  encircle  himself  with  the  rampart  of 
a  method  of  prayer.  He  thus  made  a  sort  of  inner  sanctuary, 
closed  to  all  unwholesome  influences,  and  in  it  his  super- 
natural convictions  were  guarded  and  fortified. 

As  for  the  frankly  heterodox  mysticism  of  Protestantism, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  attitude  of  Catholic  writers 
towards  it.  Reaction  against  such  false  mysticism  was  one 
of  the  things  which  engrossed  the  strenuous  attention  of 
modern  authors. 

Therefore,  at  the  risk  of  somewhat  interrupting  the  plan 
of  this  volume,  before  beginning  the  study  of  the  four  great 
schools  of  spirituality,  I  have  to  speak  of  the  Renaissance 
and  the  Reformation  as  well  as  of  their  influence  on  Christian 
asceticism. 

Of  late  some  very  important  critical  studies  of  the  great 
Spanish  spiritual  writers  have  been  issued.  The  authors  of 
the  Monumenta  historica  Societatis  Jesu  have  published  the 
works  of  St  Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  his  first  disciples  accord- 
ing to  the  best  manuscripts.  The  translation  of  the  Works 
of  St  Teresa  by  the  Carmelites  of  Paris  is  excellent.  So, 
too,  is  the  recent  edition  of  the  Works  of  St  John  of  the 
Cross  by  P.  Gerard,  translated  by  H.  Hoornaert.  Other 
less  important   Spanish  writers,   whose  influence  has  never- 


preface  vii 

theless  been  great,  have  also  been  carefully  edited.  As  yet, 
however,  we  have  no  complete  critical  edition  of  Spanish 
spiritual  writings  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  great  century, 
bubbling  over  with  life. 

The  edition  of  the  Complete  Works  of  St  Francis  de  Sales 
brought  out  by  the  Visitandines  of  Annecy  is  almost  finished, 
and  appears  to  be  final. 

M.  Henri  Bremond,  of  the  Acad^mie  francaise,  in  his 
masterly  work  entitled  YHistoirc  littdraire  du  sentiment 
religieux  en  France,  gives  us  a  wonderful  introduction  to 
the  French  School. 

There  is  no  study  of  the  Italian  School  as  a  whole.  The 
works  of  the  Italians  in  many  cases  have  been  imperfectly 
edited  hitherto.  Hence  I  shall  be  forgiven  if,  in  this  first 
inquiry,  some  important  works  have  eluded  my  investigations. 

Moreover,  it  has  been  my  aim  not  to  write  a  detailed  his- 
tory of  spirituality,  but  to  reveal  its  main  outlines.  Happy 
shall  I  be  if,  in  this  modest  study,   I  have  attained  it ! 


TRANSLATOR'S    NOTE 

Though  accepting-  full  responsibility  for  the  transla- 
tion of  this  book  as  published,  I  have  to  thank  Mr. 
S.  P.  Jacques  for  allowing  me  to  use  his  translation 
of  Chapter  IX  and  onward,  and  to  revise  it  so  as  to 
bring  it  into  line  with  my  own.  I  have  also  to  thank 
Mr.  A.  G.  McDougall  for  helping  in  the  preparation 
of  proofs  for  the  press,  during  the  course  of  which  he 
made  many  suggestions  which  I  was  glad  to  adopt 
as  improvements. 

W.   H.   M. 


CONTENTS 


PAGIi 

Preface     --...-.  v 

Chapter  I — The  Renaissance  and  the  Systemization  of  the 
Spiritual  Life  —  The  Origin  and  Development  of 
Methodical  Prayer — The  Origin  of  the  Three  Ways  of 
the  Spiritual  Life        ...  i 

I — Meditation  and  the  Graduation  of  the  Spiritual  Life  be- 
fore the  Renaissance  ------        4 

II — Methodical  Prayer  in  the  Low  Countries,  in  France,  in 
Italy  and  Spain,  at  the  End  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  at 
the  Beginning  of  the  Renaissance    -  -  -  12 

III — The  Full  Growth  of  Methodical  Prayer — Garcia  Ximenes 

de  Cisneros      ...  18 

Chapter    II — The    "  Spiritual    Exercises  "    of    St    Ignatius — 

Ignatian  Spirituality — First  Jesuit  Writers  in  this  Field      23 

I — Sources  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises     -  -  -  24 

II — Analysis  and  Explanation  of  the  "  Exercises  "       -  -      3° 

III — Practice  of  the  Exercises  in  the  Time  of  St  Ignatius  and 
Afterwards — Ignatian  Spirituality  :  Reaction  against  the 
Pagan  Renaissance  and  Protestant  Quietism  :  Protection 
of  the  Religious  Living  in  the  World  -  -  41 

IV — The  First  Jesuit  Spiritual  Writers     -  -  -  -      46 

Chapter    III — Christian    Humanism    and    Devout    Humanism — 

Their  Spirituality  -  -  -  -  -  -      49 

I — Christian  Humanism     -  -  -  -  -  -       49 

II — Devout  Humanism         -  -  -  -  -  61 

Chapter    IV — Protestant    Mysticism — The    Reaction    which    it 
stimulated    against    several    Mystical    Writers    of    the 
.    Middle  Ages        -  -  -  -  -  -  63 

I — The  Manichaean  Quietism  of  Luther  and  Calvin — Their 
Conception  of  the  Spiritual  Life,  of  Devotion  to  Christ, 
and  of  the  Relation  of  the  Soul  with  God  -  -  -      64 

II — Reaction  against  the  Medieval  Mystics  upon  whom  Luther 

relied  for  his  Authority        -  -  -  -  72 

Chapter  V — The  Spanish  School  before  St  Teresa  -  -      80 

I — Arabian-Spanish    Mysticism    in    the    Middle    Ages — The 

Franciscan  Raymond  Lull    -  -  -  -  -       80 

ix 


x  Contents 

PAGE 

II— The   "Alumbrados"   or   "  Illuminati  "         -  -  -      85 

III — Spanish  Spiritual  Writers  Prior  to  the  Intervention  of  the 
Inquisition  —  The  Franciscans:  Alonso  of  Madrid, 
Francisco  of  Ossuna,  Bernardino  of  Laredo,  and  St 
Peter  of  Alcantara     -  -  -  -  -  87 

IV — The  Dominicans  :  Luis  of  Granada,  Melchior  Cano, 
Bartholomew  of  the  Martyrs — St  Teresa's  Dominican 
Confessors        -  -  -  -  -  -  ■       95 

V — Blessed  John  of  Avila    ------     105 

VI — The  Violent  Reaction  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  against 
the  False  Mysticism  of  the  "  Alumbrados  " — The  Anti- 
Mystical  Reaction  -  -  ....     108 

VII — Trials  of  the  Jesuit  Balthazar  Alvarez  -  -  -     113 

VIII — The  Augustinians  :    Luis   de  Leon  and   Thomas  of   Jesus 

(d'Andrada)     -  -  -  -  -  -  -     119 

Chapter  VI — The  Spanish  Carmelite  School — Saint  Teresa        -     124 

I — Characteristics  of  Teresian  Mysticism  -  -  -     124 

II — St  Teresa's  Teaching — Her  Spiritual  Biography — Medita- 
tion      --------     130 

A — The  Spiritual  Biography  of  St  Teresa    -  -     130 

B — First  Degree  of  Prayer  or  Ordinary  Prayer — Medita- 
tion .......     134 

III — Kinds  of  Mystical  Prayer  according  to  St  Teresa    -  -  139 

A — Is  Everyone  Called  to  the  Mystical  Kinds  of  Prayer? — 

The  Special  Need  of  Direction  for  Mystics     -  -  139 

B — The  Different  Kind3  of  Mystical  Prayer  -  -  143 

1.  Prayer  of   Recollection     -----  144 

2.  The  Prayer  of  Quiet  or  of  the  Divine  Tastes    -  -  146 

3.  The  Prayer  of  Union,  its  Nature  and  Object  -  -  149 

4.  The  Usual  Preparations  for  the  Spiritual  Marriage  : 

Passive    Purifications — Raptures — Ecstasy — Visions 
and   Revelations  -  -  -  -  -     153 

5.  The  Spiritual  Marriage  -----     165 

IV — St   Teresa's   Ascetic   Teaching — The   Religious   Virtues  of 

the  Carmelite  Nun     -  -  -  -  -  -     17c 

Chapter  VII — The  Spanish  Carmelite  School — The  Quarrel 
between  the  mitigated  and  the  reformed  carmelites  : 
Jerome  Gratian  and  St  John  of  the  Cross — The  Spiritual 
Teaching  of  St  John  of  the  Cross    -  -  -  -     18c 

I — The  Spiritual  Teaching  of   St  John  of  the  Cross — Active 
Purifications  which  Prepare  the   Way  for   Active  Con- 
templation       -  -  -  -  -  -  -     18; 

A — The  Night  of  the  Senses  or  the  Active  Purification  of 

the  Senses    -  -  -  -  -  -  -     18! 

B — The  Night  of  the  Spirit  or  the  Active  Purification  of 

the  Spirit    -  -  -  -  -  -  -     i8< 

C — "  Spiritual  "  or  Active  "  Contemplation  "  -  -     19! 

II — Passive  Purifications  which  prepare  the  Way  for  Mystical 

Union  truly  so-called,  for  Infused  Contemplation  -  -     19 


Contents  xi 

i'agh 
A — The  Passive  Purification  of  the  Senses  or  Passive  Night 

of   the   Senses         ......     Xc|8 

B — Passive  Purification  of  the  Spirit  or  Passive  Night  of 

the  Spirit  ---....  igg 
C — Passive  or  Infused  Contemplation  -  -  -     203 

Chapter  VIII — The  Spanish  School  after  St  Teresa  and  St 
John  of  the  Cross — The  Carmelites — The  Jesuits — Mary 
d'Agreda    ...-----     206 

I — The  Carmelite  School  in  the  Seventeenth  Century    -  -     208 

II — The  Spanish  Jesuits  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century — Alphonso  Rodriguez,  Luis  de  la  Puente,  St 
Alphonsus  Rodriguez,  Alvarez  de  Paz        -  -  -     210 

III — The  Three  Conceptions  of  Mystical  Contemplation  : 
"  Quietist  "  Contemplation,  "  Anti-Intellectualist  "  Con- 
templation, and  "  Intellectualist  "  Contemplation — 
Francis  Suarez  ......     224 

IV — The  Venerable  Mary  of  Agreda  -  -  -     227 

Chapter  IX— The  Italian  School  in  the  Sixteenth  Century — 
Its  General  Characteristics — The  Chief  Italian  Spiritual 
Writers      --------    230 

I — John  Baptist  Carioni,  Dominican  (Battista  da  Crema),  and 
Serafino  da  Fermo,  Canon  Regular,  Leaders  of  the 
Canons  Regular — The  Founders  of  the  Congregations  of 
the  Italian  Clerks  Regular    -----     235 

II— The  "  Spiritual  Combat "        -  -  -  -  -     239 

III — The  Mystics  :  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  of  the 
Carmelite  Order,  St  Catherine  de  Rirci  and  Blessed 
Osanna  de  Andreassi  of  the  Order  of  St  Dominic,  Blessed 
Battista  Varani,  Poor  Clare — Franciscan  Speculative 
Mysticism         -------     246 

IV — Blessed  Robert  Bellarmine — Claud  Acquaviva  -  -     252 

Chapter  X — The  Italian  School  :  Its  Teaching      -  -  -  255 

I — The  Clergy — Their  Dignity  and  Mission      -  -  -  255 

II— The  War  against  Self    -  -  -  -  -  -  259 

III — Optimistic  Piety  of  the  Italian  School  -  -  -  261 

IV — Divine  Love  in  the  Italian  School      ...  -  264 

Chapter  XI — Saint  Francis  de  Sales — Director  of  those  in  the 

World — Founder  of  an  Order — Mystic        -  -  -    272 

I — The  Salesian  Soul — Salesian  Spirituality      -  -  -     273 

II — Direction  of  People  in  the  World — The  "  Introduction  to 

the  Devout  Life "       -  -  -  -  -     280 

A — Definition  of  Devotion — Direction — The  Purification  of 

the  Soul  -  -  -  -  -  -     281 

B — Exercises  of  Piety    ------     286 


xii  Contents 

C — The   Exercise  of    Virtue  —  Temptations  —  Union    with 
Christ  --.... 


PACK 


29O 


III — St  Francis  de  Sales  the  Founder  of  a  Congregation — His 

Relations  with  St  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  -  -  294 

A — The    Salesian    Conception    of   the   Religious    Life — The 

Visitation    -------  298 

B — The  Virtues  of  the  Religious  Life  -  301 

IV — The  Mysticism  of  St  Francis  de  Sales  -  -  -  304 

A — St  Francis  de  Sales  and  Mysticism  before  the  "Treatise 

on  the  Love  of  God  "         -  -  -  .  .  304 

B — The  Teaching  of  the  "  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God  "  -  309 

Chapter  XII — The  French  School  before  Berulle — Cardinal 
Richelieu  —  Pierre  de  Berulle  —  The  Treatise  on  the 
Greatness  of  Jesus— General  Characteristics  of  Berul- 
lian  Spirituality  ......    322 

I — Cardinal  Richelieu's  "  Treatise  on  Christian  Perfection  "     325 

II — Pierre    de    Berulle — The    Treatise    "  Des    Grandeurs    de 

Jesus  "  .......    328 

III — Berullian  Spirituality — Its  General  Characteristics  -    335 

Chapter  XIII — Berullian  Doctrine — The  Teaching  of  Berulle 

and  of  his  Disciples  :  Condren  and  Olier     -  -  .    346 

I — Berullian  Abnegation    ------  347 

A — Abnegation  according  to  Berulle  -  -  -  347 

B — Abnegation  according  to  Condren  -  -  -  350 

C — Abnegation  according  to  Jean-Jacques  Olier        -  -  352 

II — Adherence  to  Christ      -  -  -  -  -     356 

A — Adherence  to  Christ  by  Participation  in  the  Mysteries 
of  his  Earthly  and  Heavenly  Life — Berulle  as  inter- 
preted by  Olier      ------     359 

B — Adherence  to  Christ   in  his    State  of   Immolation   and 

as  Victim,  according  to  Condren  -  -  -     371 

C — Adherence    to    Christ    through    the    Mysteries    of    his 

Eucharistic  Life,  according  to  Jean-Jacques  Olier        -     377 

Chapter   XIV — The  Teaching   of  the   French   School  on  the 

Priesthood  .......    382 

Chapter  XV — St  Vincent  de  Paul  and  St  John  Eudes    - 


Appendix — St  John  Eudes  and  Public  Devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart         ........ 


Index 


395 
402 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  RENAISSANCE  AND  THE  SVSTEM1ZATION  OF  THE 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE— THE  ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
METHODICAL  PRAYER— THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  THREE 
WAYS  OF  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  just  at 
the  beginning-  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
Hundred  Years'  War  and  the  Great  Schism- 
introduced  anarchy  into  the  churches  and  the 
religious  Orders.  The  war  upset  the  social  order, 
especially  in  France.  For  the  moment  the  Great  Schism 
actually  broke  up  Catholic  unity  and  thereby  lessened  ecclesi- 
astical authority.  Almost  everywhere  discipline  was  relaxed. 
Such  was  the  state  of  moral  enfeeblement  in  which  the 
Renaissance   found  Christianity   in   the   West. 

It  restored,  as  we  know,  the  literature  and  art  of  antiquity ; 
it  also  revived  the  ancient  paganism.  For  if  there  was,  as 
we  shall  see,  a  Christian  and  even  a  devout  form  of 
humanism,  there  was  also  a  pagan  humanism,  that  of 
Lorenzo  Valla,  of  Poggio,  of  Leonardo  Aretino,  of  Filelfo  in 
Italy,  and  of  Rabelais  in  France.  The  fables  of  pagan 
mythology  were  displayed  in  sculpture  and  painting.  The 
Epicurean  notion  of  following  nature  revived  the  worship 
of  the  flesh.1  A  thirst  for  enjoyment  in  its  most  various  forms 
became  the  ideal  which  the  pagan  humanists  opposed  to  the 
derided  Christian  spirit.  Obscene  writings  popularized  this 
immoral  teaching  in  Italy  and  France  and  Germany.  Licen- 
tiousness of  manners  was  its  immediate  consequence.  Pro- 
fligacy was  observed,  especially  during  the  second  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  even  in  the  papal  court  and,  for  some 
years,  on  the  very  throne  of  St  Peter.2 

The  tide  of  corruption  threatened  to  submerge  every- 
thing. The  clergy  and  the  monks — except  the  Mendicant 
Orders — were  not  protected  by  a  discipline  sufficiently  strict 

1  Rabelais  says  of  the  inhabitants  of  Thelema  :  "  In  their  Rule  there 
was  only  this  one  clause:  Do  what  you  will"  [Gargantua,  Book  IV, 
chap.  Ivii). 

2  Cf.  Ludwig  Pastor,  Histoire  des  Rapes  defuis  la  fin  du  moyen  dge; 
Furcy-Raynaud's  translation,  Vol.  I,  pp.  1-71  ;  Vol.  VII,  chap.  vii. 
Jean  Guiraud,  L'Eglise  romaine  et  les  origines  de  la  Renaissance, 
Paris,  1904,  chap,  xi ;  Imbard  de  la  Tour,  Les  origines  de  la  Reforme, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  314  ff.  ;  F.  Mourret,  Histoire  generale  de  I'Eglise,  Vol.  V, 
pp.  15,  274 ;  Alfred  Baudrillart,  L'Eglise  catholiaue,  la  Renaissance,  le 
Protestantisme,  Paris,   1905,  pp.   1  ff. 

III.  I 


2  Cbristian  Spirituality 

to  afford  them  safety.  They  also  possessed — and  this  was 
one  of  their  great  sources  of  weakness — an  abundance  of 
property  which  enabled  them  to  procure  the  pleasures  so 
much  vaunted  by  the  new  Epicureans  whose  books  were  read 
on  all  sides.  Besides  this,  there  were  the  violent  attacks 
made  by  the  humanists  upon  the  clergy  and  religious  because 
they  stood  for  the  Christian  ideal  of  renunciation.1 

Surrounded  with  seducing  influences,  ridiculed  by  satirists 
and  humanist  pamphlets,  poorly  assisted  by  their  superiors, 
how  could  the  clergy  and  the  monks  withstand  so  rough  a 
storm  ?  Many  held  good ;  in  what  manner  we  shall  see. 
Many,  however,  yielded  to  the  onslaught  and,  borne  along 
by  the  irresistible  flood,  abandoned  all  attempts  as  useless 
and  gave  up  the  struggle.  In  their  discouragement  they 
came  to  regard  all  resistance  to  passion  as  practically  im- 
possible. The  surrounding  decadence  and  their  own  laxity 
lulled  their  conscience  in  self-indulgence  and  in  the  dread 
of  all  endeavour.  For  them  "  such  words  as  the  conquest 
and  mastery  of  self,  as  discipline,  had  hardly  any  meaning."  2 

Doubtless,  in  every  age  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  there 
is  more  or  less  evidence  of  failures  amongst  the  clergy  and 
the  religious.  The  Middle  Ages,  as  we  know,  had  their  full 
share  of  such  troubles.  But  if,  in  the  ages  of  faith,  Christian 
morals  were  outraged  by  the  lives  of  many,  they  still  re- 
mained, for  almost  everyone  and  especially  for  the  clergy, 
an  undisputed  ideal  which  men  must  endeavour  to 
attain.  The  reprobate  priest  and  the  unfaithful  religious, 
throughout  that  period,  had  each  a  deep  feeling  of  his  own 

1  J.  Guiraud,  op.  cit.,  pp.  304  ff.  ;  Imbart  de  la  Tour,  Les  origines  de 
la  Riforme,  Vol.  II,  pp.  199-212,  291-305. 

1  Denifle-Paquier,  Luther  et  le  Luthiranisme,  Vol.  I,  p.  3,  Paris, 
1910.  A  contemporary  work  ascribed  to  Berthold  of  Chiemsee,  entitled 
Onus  ecclesiae,  says  :  Tota  nostra  inclinatio  ad  vanitatem  tendit ; 
quidquid  mail  unicuique  in  mentem  venerit,  hoc  impune  perpttrare 
audet,  cap.  xl  (Denifle,  id.,  p.  8);  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  about  1523, 
says  the  same  in  his  De  contemftu  mundi,  cap.  xii  :  Nunc  plura 
monasteria  mediis  mundi  visceribus  admista  sunt,  nee  aliter  extra  mun- 
dum  sunt  quam  renes  extra  corpus  animantis.  In  quibus  adeo  non 
viget  disciplina  religionis,  ut  nihil  aliud  sint  quam  scholae  impietatis, 
in  quibus  ne  liceat  quidem  esse  puros  et  inlegros.  Quibus  titulus 
cultusque  religionis  nihil  aliud  fraestet  quam  ut  impunitius  liceat  quid- 
quid  libel ;  Desiderii  Erasmi  Roterodami,  Opera  omnia,  Lugd.  Batav., 
1704,  torn.  V,  p.  1261.  Cf.  Enchiridion  militis  christiani,  cap.  vi, 
torn.  V,  p.  40.  See,  too,  Louis  de  Blois  (ti566),  Brevis  regula  tryonis 
spiritualis,  Opera,  Antwerp,  1632,  p.  355  :  Heu  quam  multi  viri  ei 
feminae  hodie  se  misere  fallunt,  qui  monastico  habitu  suscepto,  vote 
Religionis  vovent,  cum  tamen  parum  aut  nihil  de  perfectione  vitat 
co gi tent!  Creaturis  tenaciter  adhaerent,  et  in  eis  delectationem  in 
ordinate  quaerunt,  externas  consolationes  avidissime  appetunt,  sese 
totos  absque  timore  foras  effundunt ;  mente  vagi,  moribus  incompositi 
sensibus  incustoditi,  verbis  vani  ac  vani  sunt ;  atque  in  sua  negligentic 
suisque  vitiis  ad  mortem  usque  perseverant.  See  also  Janssen,  V Alle 
magne  el  la  Rijorme,  I,  575  ff. 


Spstemisatton  3 

unworthiness.  They  held  to  the  faith,  they  recognized  the 
value  of  their  vows,  they  remained  outwardly  subject  to 
the  authority  of  the  Church.  The  disgraceful  contradiction 
between  their  beliefs  and  their  lives  filled  them  with  dread 
when  they  thought  of  it.  A  fairly  large  number  of  them 
sometimes  pulled  themselves  together  and  tried  to  break — 
were  it  only  for  a  while — the  bonds  of  iniquity.  In  short,  the 
unchristian  act  was  judged  from  a  Christian  point  of  view. l  - 

In  the  age  of  the  Renaissance  it  was  not  altogether  thus. 
Men's  minds  were  themselves  perverted;  public  opinion  in 
many  countries  became  pagan.  Evil  was  called  good,  and 
good  evil.     Erasmus  in  1501  was  able  to  write  thus  : 

"  Of  the  common  run  of  Christians  think  this  :  that  none 
were  ever  more  corrupt,  even  among  the  pagans,  in  their 
notions  of  morals."2 

The  priest,  the  monk,  and  the  faithful  layman  who  wanted 
to  do  his  duty  could  hardly  discover  anywhere  outside  his 
own  interior  life  the  means  of  protecting  or  of  freeing  him- 
self from  the  evil  influence  of  popular  opinion.  More  than 
anything  they  wanted  a  thoroughly  Christian  mentality  and-' 
unshakable  convictions  to  set  against  the  maxims  of 
paganism.  They  wanted  the  mind  of  Christ  and  not  the 
fancies  of  the  crowd.  The  example  and  the  words  of  Christ 
are  the  sole  rule  of  right;  to  wander  from  them  is  inevitably 
to  go  astray.  A  man  must  be  really  convinced  of  this, 
whatever  he  may  see  or  hear  around  him  in  the  world  or 
even  in  the  Church  and  her  rulers  ! 

"Beware  lest  thou  reason  thus" — advises  Erasmus  with 
a  touch  of  satire  in  his  warning — "  No  one  does  any  better 
than  I  !  This  is  how  my  forbears  acted  !  This  learned 
philosopher  and  that  eminent  theologian  think  likewise  !  So 
live  our  great  men  and  kings  !  So  behave  even  the  bishops 
and  the  popes  !  Yet  they  are  not  the  vulgar  crowd  ! — Be 
not  disturbed  by  these  great  names  :  I  judge  not  vulgarity 
by  its  position,  but  by  its  want  of  moral  worth."3 

1  See  especially  Gerson's  Dialogus  super  caelibatu  sive  castitate 
Ecclesiasticorum  (Lyons,  1443)  in  reply  to  those  who  demanded  the 
suppression  of  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  because  they  thought  it  re- 
sponsible for  all  the  clerical  disorders.  The  Dialogue  is  between  Nature, 
which  puts  forward  the  current  objections  to  celibacy,  and  Wisdom, 
which  refutes  them.  Gerson  writes  thus  in  a  spirit  of  resignation  :  Hoc 
dicimus  quod  de  duobus  malts  minus  est  incontinentes  tolerare  sacer- 
dotes  quam  nullos  habere  [Opera,  ed.  Dupin,  Antwerp,  1703,  torn.  II, 
634).  See,  too,  the  Prologue  of  the  Lavacrum  conscientiae,  published  in 
Germany  before  1500  by  an  unknown  writer,  and  the  Reformatorium 
vitae  morumque  et  honestatis  clericorum,  Basileae,  1494,  by  Jacobus 
Philippi,  brother  of  the  Rector  of  the  house  of  the  Brethren  of  the 
Common  Life  at  Zwolle. 

*  Enchiridion  militis  christiani,  cap.  viii,  Opera,  V,  40  :  De  vulgo 
christianorum  sic  existimo,  nullum  unquam  fuisse  corruptius,  ne  apud 
ethnicos  quidem,  quantum  ad  opiniones  de  moribus  attinet. 

'  ibid. 


4  Christian  Spirituality 

Under  the  pressure  of  these  grave  difficulties  the  spiritual 
life  was  driven  to  adopt  a  stricter  discipline  than  it  had  used 
"in  times  gone  by.  Since,  outside  of  it,  neither  ecclesiastical 
laws  nor  monastic  rules  nor  public  opinion  could  protect 
devotion,  it  had  to  make  its  citadel  within  the  Christian 
soul.  The  spiritual  life  showed  a  tendency  towards  regula- 
tion even  towards  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Re- 
naissance  drove  it  to  shut  itself  up  within  definite  borders, 
hard  and  fast  barriers  strong  enough  to  bear  rough  blows 
without  breaking  down.  Thus  came  about  the  methodiza- 
tion  of  the  exercises,  and  especially  of  meditation,  and  the 
final  graduation  of  the  spiritual  life.  Everyone  could  then 
adapt,  rather  mechanically  indeed,  but  appropriately  the 
various  religious  exercises  to  the  state  and  needs  of  his  soul. 

But  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  goal  of  this  evolu- 
tion let  us  go  back  a  little  to  take  in  at  a  glance  its  various 
stages.  We  shall  see  that  the  Middle  Ages  sketched  in  out- 
line a  method  of  prayer,  and  that  it  reached  to  the  point  of 
marking  the  steps  of  the  threefold  spiritual  path  :  the  purga- 
tive, the  illuminative,  and  the  unitive  ways.  Pardon  me  the 
somewhat  technical  character  of  this  first  chapter,  which  I 
shall  abridge  as  much  as  possible. 


I— MEDITATION   AND  THE   GRADUATION   OF 
THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  RENAISSANCE 

''A  spiritual  discipline  has  always  been  indispensable  to  the 
Christian  life.  Indeed,  how  is  sin  to  be  put  off  and  to  be 
kept  at  a  distance,  how  can  goodness  be  held  fast  and  per- 
fection aimed  at  unless  we  give  ourselves  up  to  a  kind  of 
moral  gymnastics?  St  Paul  advised  Timothy  to  exercise 
himself  (yi'/xi-a^e  creavrov)  unto  godliness,  which  is  far  more 
profitable  than  ardour  in  bodily  exercise  (o-w/xaTiK?/  yvfxvaa-'ia). 
The  spiritual  life  demands  a  scheme  of  exercises  more  or 
less  regulated  from  the  beginning;  in  a  word,  a  discipline. 
Ascetical  authors  always  keep  this  Pauline  idea  in  view. 

In  the  third  century,   as  we  learn   from  Clement  of  Alex 
andria  and  Origen,1  the  Christians  who  mortified  themselves 
by  the  practice  of  continence  were  called  ascetics  (dovcTjTa/), 
a   word   which   implies  a   whole  programme.      Askesis   is  an 
ensemble  of  exercises.     The  continent  were  those  who  exer- 

■'  cised  themselves  unto  virtue  by  fasting  and  other  austerities. 
A  little  later  on  Cassian  regards  fasting,  vigils,  reading,  and 
denudation  as  "exercises"  which  mortify  the  body  and  en- 
able the  monk  to  attain   to  the  topmost  heights  of  charity. 

1  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Paedag.,  I,  8,  etc.     Origen,  In  Jeremiam, 
XIX,  7,    dor»ojTai  =  "  those  who  exercised  themselves  in  virtue." 


5$5temi3atfon  5 

They  are  the  "instruments"  of  perfection,1  which  must  be 
V  united  with  prayer  and  the  practice  of  the  virtues. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  attention  was  directed  to  other  exer- 
cises, which  were  called  "  spiritual  exercises  "  or  interior 
>  exercises  of  the  soul.  These  were  reading,  meditation, 
prayer  or  contemplation,  and  examination  of  conscience.  In 
monasteries  they  took  up  the  time  left  free  from  psalmody 
and  the  other  chief  exercises  of  the  Rule.  They  were  also 
a  help  to  avoid  idleness  and  their  variety  obviated  boredom.2 
It  was  especially  timely  to  commend  them  to  monks  who 
lived  a  hermit-life.3 

These  exercises  soon  gained  greatly  in  importance,  especi- 
ally amongst  the  Carthusians;4  so  fitted  were  they  to 
promote  the  interior  life  of  the  religious.  For  "  bodily  exer- 
cises "  such  as  fasting  and  vigils,  in  which  the  body  plays 
the  chief  part,  have  but  one  purpose — the  facilitation  of 
"spiritual  exercises."5  In  reality  the  true  "exercise,"  the 
only  one  that  really  counts,  as  St  Bernard6  says,  is  the 
ascent  of  the  soul  towards  perfection.  Everything  may  be 
brought  down  to  that  spiritual  gymnastic  training  which  lies 
in  climbing  up  the  mystical  ladder  whereby  we  ascend 
towards  God.  The  rungs  are  reading,  meditation,  prayer,  and 
contemplation  ;7  but  meditation  soon  came  to  be  regarded 
vas  the   primary  one.8 

1  Cassian,  Coll.,  I,  cap.  vii,  x. 

*  Ep.  ad  fratres  de  monte  Dei,  lib.  I,  cap.  x,  23  :  Singulis  horis 
secundum  communis  instituti  canonem  sua  distribue  exercitia:  cui 
spiritualia,  spiritualia;  cui  corporalia,  corf  or  alia:  in  quibus  sic 
exsolvat  omne  debitum  spiritus  Deo,  corpus  spiritui.  Aelred,  English 
twelfth-century  Cistercian,  De  vita  eremitica,  XIV  :  Quia  mens  nostra 
.  .  .  nunquam  in  eodem  statu  permanet,  otiositas  exercitionim  varie- 
tate  fuganda  est,  et  quies  nostra  quadam  operum  vicissitudine  fulci- 
enda  (P.L.  XXXII,  1455). 

3  In  the  twelfth  century  it  is  specially  found  in  treatises  intended 
for  Carthusians  or  for  hermits  and  recluses.  Guigues,  a  Carthusian 
(t  about  1 1 90),  recommends  his  monks  to  practise  four  exercises  in 
their  cells  :  reading,  meditation,  prayer  or  contemplation,  and  manual 
work.     De  quadripartito  exercitio   cellae  (P.L.   CLIII,   799-884). 

4  Cf.  Dom  A.  Wilmart,  O.S.B.,  Les  ecrits  spirit uels  des  deux  Guigues 
in  the  Revue  d'Ascetique  et  de  Mystique  (Janv.-Avril,  1924).  According 
to  Dom  Wilmart,  the  Carthusians  are  those  who  wrote  most  of  the 
twelfth-century  treatises  which  deal  with  meditation. 

6  Ep.  ad  jrat.  de  monte  Dei,  lib.  I,  cap.  xi,  32. 

e  Sermo  XXV  de  diversis,  4;  In  circumcisione,  serm.  Ill,  11. 

7  Scala  Claustralium  or  Scala  Paradisi,  cap.  i  :  Cum  quadam  die 
.  .  .  .  de  spiritualis  hominis  exercitio  coepissem,  quatuor  spirituals 
gradus  animo  cogitanti  se  subito  obtulerunt :  scilicet,  lectio,  meditatio, 
oratio  et  contemplaiio.  Haec  est  Scala  Claustralium,  qua  de  terra  in 
coelum  sublevantur  (P.L.  CLXXXIV,  476).  This  treatise  is  ascribed 
to  Dom  Guigues  I,  Prior  of  the  Grand  Chartreuse.  It  was  translated 
into  French  by  Fuzet,  LEchelle  du  ciel  ou  traite  de  Voraison,  Lille- 
Bruges,  1880. 

8  The  Scala  Paradisi  and  the  Ep.  ad  frat.  de  monte  Dei  are  the  two 
documents  which  speak  most  of  meditation.  At  the  beginning  of  them 
will  be  found  a  method  of  prayer. 


6  Cbrtstfan  Spirituality 

Meditation,  in  one  form  or  another,  has  always  been 
necessary  for  the  sanctification  of  the  soul.  It  helps  us  to 
discover  the  truth  and  to  learn  to  love.  Further,  the  Psalmist 
never  tires  of  repeating-  that  the  law  of  the  Lord  "  is  his 
meditation  all  the  day."1  During-  his  devout  reflections  "  a 
fire  flamed  out"2  within  him.  St  Paul  counselled  Timothy 
to  "  meditate"  upon  his  advice,  to  "  be  wholly  in  it  "3  that 
he  might  advance  in  goodness. 

The  first  Christian  ascetics,  who  slept  with  the  Bible  under 
their  pillows,  were  lovers  of  meditation.4  They  regarded  it 
as  an  efficacious  means  of  overcoming  the  devil.5  St 
Pachomius  bade  his  monks  to  meditate  on  a  few  passages 
of  Scripture  or  devout  thoughts  on  their  way  from  one 
monastery  to  another  or  while  working  or  in  the  silence  and 
solitude  of  their  cells.6  The  Rule  of  St  Benedict  speaks  of 
meditation  which  might  be  made  by  the  monks  after  vigils 
when  they  ended  before  the  time  for  Lauds.7  St  John 
Climacus8  considered  that  prayer  truly  fervent  which  was 
united  with  meditation,  especially  with  meditation  on  death. 

The  mystics  of  the  Middle  Ages  threw  into  still  higher 
j  relief  the  benefits  of  meditation.  It  is,  according  to  them, 
an  indispensable  way  of  discovering  the  truth,  scientific  as 
well  as  religious  truth.  Without  it  no  man  can  know  him- 
self nor  examine  the  state  of  his  conscience.  Meditation 
preserves  or  delivers  us  from  evil  thoughts.9  By  it,  too,  we 
attain  to  a  profounder  knowledge  of  divine  truths,  a  know- 
ledge which  is  transformed  into  love.  Looked  at  from  all 
these  various  sides,  it  is  that  consideration  in  which  St 
Bernard  summed  up  all  devotion.10  Furthermore,  it  is  the 
principal  step  to  ascend  if  we  would  rise  to  mystical  con- 
templation.11 

This  preponderating  role  of  meditation  is  well  described 
by   the   writer   of   the    Scala    Paradisi.      Reading,    he    says, 

I  Ps.  cxviii,  97,  etc.  *  Ps.  xxxviii,  4. 
3   1  Tim.  iv,  15. 

*  St  Athanasius,  De  virginitate,  12,  16;  St  Ambrose,  De  virginibus, 
III,  18,  20. 

5  Vitae  Patrum,  lib.  VI,  libell.  I,  10. 

6  Regula  Pack.,  2,  28,  36,  37,  59-60,  122  (P.L.,  LXIII).  Cassian 
advises  constant  meditation  on  the  Scriptures.     Coll.,  XIV,  cap.  x. 

7  Regula  S  Benedicti,  VIII. 

8  Scala  Paradisi ,  gradus  28. 

•  Aelred,  De  vita  eremitica,  XXIX  :  Nihil  enim  magis  cogitationes 
excludit  inutiles  vel  compescit  lascivias  quam  meditatio  verbi  Dei, 
quod  sic  ad  animum  suum  virgo  debet  assuescere,  ut  aliud  volens,  non 
fossil  aliud  meditari.  Cogitanti  de  Serif turis  somnus  obrefat. 
Evi gilanti  frimum  aliquid  de  Serif  turis  occurrat.  Dormientis  somnia 
memoria  aliqua  de  Scrifturis  sententia  condiat  [P.L.,  XXXII,   1461). 

10  De  Consideratione,  lib.  V,  cap.  xi.  Ci.  De  Imit.  CJiristi,  lib.  II, 
cap.  v. 

II  Scala  Paradisi  vel  Claust.  cap.  i  ss. ;  Hugh  of  St  Victor,  De  modo 
dicendi  et  meditandi. 


5£steml3ation  7 

presents  the  truth.  It  is  meditation  that  cuts  it  up,  masti- 
cates and  ruminates  it,  and  makes  a  kind  of  broth  of  it  for 
the  nourishment  of  the  soul.1  St  Francis  de  Sales  uses 
the  same  terms  to  define  the  word  "  meditate."2  Meditation^ 
acquaints  us  with  our  own  poverty,  with  our  utter  need  of 
the  truth,  and  with  our  impotence  to  follow  it  without  the 
grace  of  God.  Lastly,  it  fires  us  with  the  desire  to  pray  for 
God's  help.3  Scarcely  anywhere  shall  we  hereafter  find  a 
better  explanation  of  the  influence  of  meditation  upon  prayer 
and  of  its  indispensableness  for  the  kindling  of  fervour  in 
prayer. 

Spiritual  exercises — reading,  meditation,  prayer,  and  con- 
templation— are,  therefore,  bound  together  by  a  chain  the 
main  link  in  which  is  meditation  : 

"  Reading  apart  from  meditation  is  dry;  meditation  with- 
out reading  is  subject  to  error ;  prayer  without  meditation 
is  lukewarm  ;  meditation  without  prayer  is  barren ;  fervent 
prayer  leads  to  contemplation ;  contemplation  apart  from 
prayer  is  either  a  very  rare  or  a  miraculous  thing."* 

I  have  read,  says  the  writer  of  the  Scala  by  way  of  ex- 
planation, this  word  of  the  Lord  :  Blessed  are  the  clean  of 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God,  a  word  which  stirs  me  to 
devout  inquiry.  Then  comes  meditation  to  delve  into  its 
meaning  and  scrutinize  it  syllable  by  syllable.  It  reminds  me 
of  what  was  said  by  the  prophets  of  old  in  praise  of  purity. 
Then  I  reflect  upon  the  happiness  of  seeing  God  face  to  face, 
the  reward  of  the  pure  in  heart.  How  I  long  to  be  one  of 
them  !  But  neither  reading  nor  meditation  can  make  me 
clean  of  heart  :  only  God  can  do  that.  So  I  '  take  refuge 
in  prayer,'  and  pray  the  Lord  all  the  more  ardently  to  make 
me  pure,  the  more  I  desire  to  be  made  clean.5 

Such  fervent  prayer  wins  even  the  grace  of  infused  con- 
templation. The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  the  just:  and 
his  ears  unto  their  prayers ;6  but  he  does  not  wait  until  they 

1  Quid  enim  prodest  lectione  continua  tempus  occufare,  sanctorum 
gesta  et  scripta  legendo  transcurrere,  nisi  ea  etiam  masticando  et 
ruminando  succum  eliciamus  et  trans gluti end o  usque  ad  cordis  intima 
transmittamus?  [Scala  Paradisi,  cap.  xi.     Cf,  cap.  iii). 

*  "  To  meditate  is  the  same  as  to  masticate.  .  .  .  We  must  take  the 
meat  that  nourishes  the  soul  and  masticate  it — i.e.,  meditate  on  it  to 
swallow  it  and  transform  it  into  ourselves  "  (CEuvres  computes,  Vol.  IX, 
359,  Annecy  ed.). 

1  Scala  Paradisi,  cap.  x-xii.       Cf.  Ep.  ad  frat.  de  monte  Dei,  lib.  I, 

31.  32- 

*  Scala  Par.,  cap.  xii.  Examination  should  be  joined  with  meditation 
as  its  necessary  complement.  Any  deviation  between  conduct  and  the 
way  of  perfection  must  be  ascertained.  Ep.  ad  frat.  de  monte  Dei, 
lib.  I,  22,  29;  lib.  II,  15. 

5  Scala,  cap.  iii-iv.  Cf.  Ep.  ad  frat.  de  monte  Dei,  lib.  I,  42  : 
Amor  em  ergo  Dei,  in  homine  ex  gratia  genitum,  lactat  lectio,  meditatio 
pascit,  oratio  confortat  et  illuminat. 

*  Ps.  xxxiii,  16. 


8  Christian  Spirituality 

are  over  to  answer  them.  Sometimes  he  "  interrupts  the 
flow  of  prayer"  and  suddenly  breaks  in  upon  the  soul,  in- 
undating- it  with  heavenly  dew  and  filling-  it  with  joy.1  At 
other  times,  however,  he  leaves  the  soul  in  aridity,  a  trial 
to  be  accepted  with  patience.2 

The  subject  of  meditation  should  be  adapted,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  the  degree  of  everyone's  spiritual  life.  Be- 
ginners will  rather  meditate  upon  episodes  in  Christ's  life 
and  try  to  find  therein  examples  of  virtue  and  helps  to 
progress  in  the  love  of  God.  The  easier  passages  of  the 
Bible  and  from  the  works  of  the  Fathers,  as  well  as  the 
lives  of  the  saints,  will  be  specially  profitable  to  them. 
Having  considered  Christ  as  Man,  they  will  succeed,  as 
they  advance  in  charity,  in  the  apprehension  and  enjoyment 
of  the  divine  perfections.  3 

The  counsels  given  by  the  Epistola  ad  fratres  de  monte 
Dei  to  the  Carthusians  of  the  twelfth  century  were  zealously 
followed  in  the  next  one.  As  we  know,  the  pseudo-Bona- 
venture's  Meditations  on  the  Life  of  Christ  was  the  standard 
work  which  provided  subjects  for  prayer,  but  it  was  sup- 
planted during  the  next  century  by  the  famous  Life  of 
Christ  by   Ludolph  the  Carthusian. 

At  the  dawn  of  the  later  era,  therefore,  we  find  a  theory 
of  meditation.  It  is  practised,  and  its  benefits  are  proclaimed 
as  well  as  its  indispensableness  for  the  religious  who  desires 
not  to  degenerate,  and  a  fortiori  for  him  who  would  increase 
in  the  love  of  God.  David  of  Augsburg  (11272)  affirms, 
indeed,  that  without  the  practice  of  meditation  no  religious 
can  be  worthy  of  his  vocation. i 

Are  we  to  conclude  that  methodical  meditation  originated 
in  the  Middle  Ages?  No;  if  to  methodical  meditation  is 
given  the  exact  meaning  which  it  bears  to-day  and  as  it  is 
found  in  the  works  of  Garcia  Ximenes  of  Cisneros  and  of 
Ignatius  of  Loyola.  To  accomplish  such  a  strict  regulariza- 
tion  of  meditation,  Christian  life  had  to  become  more 
thoroughly  systematized,  and  especially  had  the  theory  of 
the  three  ways  of  the  spiritual  life — the  purgative,  the  illu- 
minative, and  the  unitive  ways — to  become  quite  clas- 
sical. Moreover,  under  the  increasing  pressure  of  outward 
circumstances  upon  the  supernatural  life  of  the  soul,  the 
need  of  systematizing  the  means  of  resistance  with  greater 
strictness  had  to  make  itself  felt. 


The  Fathers  of  the  Church  graded  the  spiritual  life  quite 
empirically,  if  we  may  venture  to  say  so.     They  distinguished 

1  Scala,  cap.  v-vi.  2  Ef.  ad  frat.,  lib.  I,  46.  3  id.  42-43. 

*  De  exterioris  et  inter ioris  hominis  comfositiofie  (Quaracchi,   1899). 


5£Stemt3atfon  9 

between  the  beginning-,  the  progress,  and  the  end  of  its 
course.  Obviously,  the  counsels  and  exhortations  suited  to 
beginners  would  be  useless  to  those  who  were  more  advanced 
and  to  the  perfect.  Hence,  their  instructions  are  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  their  hearers.  In  summing  up  those  who 
had  gone  before  him,  Cassian  explains  that  beginners  are 
led  by  fear,  those  on  the  way  by  the  hope  of  reward,  and 
the  perfect  by  charity  alone.1  Therefore,  everyone  is  to  be 
dealt  with  according  to  the  stage  of  spiritual  life  in  which 
he  is  found. 

The  twelfth  century,  which  spoke  so  freely  of  the  love  of 
God,  liked  to  grade  Christian  life,  as  St  Augustine  did, 
according  to  the  degrees  of  that  love.  This  did  not  hinder 
it  from  usually  keeping  to  the  old  arrangement  of  beginners, 
the  proficient,  and  the  perfect.2 

The  spiritual  exercises  belonging  to  each  degree  of  per- 
fection were  determined  with  care.  Reading  suited  be-/ 
ginners,  meditation  the  advancing,  prayer  and  contempla- 
tion the  perfect.3  But  we  must  not  find  in  such  principles 
as  these  an  exclusivism  which  was  not  in  the  mind  of  their 
makers.  The  devotion  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  too  spon- 
taneous and  too  living  to  be  shut  up  within  hard  and  fast 
barriers.  Even  the  perfect  were  devoted  to  reading,  and 
whatever  a  man's  spiritual  state  might  be  he  could  not 
entirely  dispense  with  the  exercises  of  beginners. 

Nevertheless,  owing  to  the  craving  of  the  human  mind 
for  synthesis,  the  systematization  once  begun  never  came  to 
a  standstill.  In  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  crowned  by 
the  Platonic  theory  of  contemplation  of  the  Pseudo-Diony- 
sius.  According  to  the  Areopagite,  purification,  illumination, 
and  consummation  or  perfection  are  the  three  stages  of  the 
soul's  ascent  to  mystical  contemplation.  Dionysian  con- 
templation is  above  all  an  act  of  the  mind  ;  it  demands  an  •' 
intellectual  as  well  as  a  moral  preparation.  The  mind  has 
to  be  purified  by  stripping  it  of  all  sensible  images  and  im- 
perfect ideas  which  can  be  only  an  impediment  to  it  when 
anyone  desires  to  see  God.  The  mind  must  further  be 
enlightened  by  heavenly  illumination  to  become  capable  of 
discerning  divine  realities.     When  it  has  been  thus  perfected, 

1  Coll.,  XI,  cap.  vii.  St  Thomas  also  likes  to  make  use  of  the  three 
classes  of  beginners,  the  -proficient,  and  the  -perfect,  2a,  2ae,  Q.  24, 
art.  9 ;  Q.  183,  art.  4. 

2  Cf.  Ep.  ad  fratres  de  monte  Dei,  lib.  I,  cap.  v  :  Sicut  stella  a  stella 
distat  in  claritate,  sic  cella  a  cella  in  conversatione,  scilicet  incipi- 
entium,  proficientium  et  perfeciorum.  The  Imitation  of  Christ  also  has 
this  tripartite  division.  The  Scala  Claustralium,  however,  gives  this 
classification  :  incipientes,  proficientes,  devoti  and  beati  (cap.  x). 

3  See  Hugh  of  St  Victor,  De  modo  dicendi  et  meditandi.  The  Scala 
Claustralium  restricts  prayer  to  the  devoti  and  contemplation  to  the 
beati. 


io  Christian  Spirituality 

it  will  be  finally  united  to  God  and  thus  contemplate  him 
directly.  No  doubt  the  whole  soul  will  be  thereby  purified, 
illuminated,  and  perfected.  Mystical  contemplation  is 
wrought  by  the  love  of  God  ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  in  it- 
,  self,  of  the  intellectual  order  in  this  sense,  that  it  is  wrought 
in  the  mind. 

Especially  during  the  first  third  of  the  thirteenth  century 
did  Dionysian  commentators  favour  the  notion  of  applying 
the  threefold  division  of  mystical  contemplation  to  the  normal 
growth  of  Christian  life.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  cast  aside 
the  ideas  of  such  an  authority  as  Dionysius  all  at  once. 

The  Victorine  Thomas  Gallus,  Abbot  of  Vercellse  (t  about 
1226), *  the  most  famous  "Master  in  Hierarchy"  of  the 
period,  who  passed  for  the  profoundest  expert  in  Dionysian 
thought,  caught  no  more  than  a  glimpse  of  the  classical 
theory.  He  sums  up  all  spiritual  endeavour  on  the  way 
to  sanctity  in  purification,  illumination,  and  perfection;  but 
this  endeavour  seems  to  be  of  a  too  exclusively  intellectual 
kind.  According  to  Thomas  Gallus,  purification  consists 
in  shaking  off  ignorance,  illumination  brings  men  to  know- 
ledge, and  perfection  gives  them  understanding  and  compre- 
hension of  that  which  is  known.2  Here,  we  have  not  yet  the 
theory  of  the  three  spiritual  ways. 

That  is  the  discovery  of  St  Bonaventure.3  No  doubt  the 
Seraphic  Doctor  took  his  inspiration  from  Thomas  Gallus, 
but  went  beyond  him.4  It  is  the  general  and  normal  develop- 
ment of  the  Christian  life  that  he  means  to  explain  and  not 
only  the  soul's  ascent  towards  mystical  contemplation.  In 
the  purgative  way  come  conversion  and  purification  from  sin ; 
in  the  illuminative  way  the  soul  is  enlightened  as  to  God  and 
'  Christ  and  itself,  and  tries  to  imitate  the  Lord  ;  in  the  unitive 
way  it  is  united  to  God  by  charity,  and  abandons  itself  to 
the  exercise  of  holy  love.  St  Bonaventure  points  out  the 
.  practices  appropriate  to  each  of  these  three  ways. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  as  St  Bonaventure,  the  Carthusian 
Hugh  of  Palma,  who  died  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 

1  Besides  his  commentary  on  St  Dionysius  he  left  a  Commentarius 
hierarchicus  in  Cantica  C  antic  or  um.  Pez,  Thesaurus  anecdotorum 
novissimus,  torn.  II. 

3  Purgatio  dicit  recessum  ab  ignoto,  illuminatio  vero  accessum  ad 
cognitum,  perfectum  vero  ejusdem  cogniti  intellectum  et  comprehen- 
sionem. — Extr  actio  super  quatuor  libros  magni  Dionysii,  Puyol, 
UAuteur  du  Livre  De  Imitatione  Christi,  p.  189. 

*  Especially  in  the  De  triflici  via  or  De  incendio  amoris.  Cf. 
Christian  Spirituality,  Vol.  II,  pp.  177  ff.  P.  Symphorien  de  Mons, 
Etudes  franciscaines,  1921,  pp.  36  ff.  Cf.  St  Thomas,  pars  3,  Q.  27, 
art.  3,  and  also  Q.  184,  art.  6,  where  we  find  purification  and  illumina- 
tion in  the  Dionysian  sense. 

'  Cf.  Longpr6,  O.F.M.,  La  thiologie  mystique  de  saint  Bonaventure 
in  the  Archivum  Franciscanum  Historicum,  Ann.  XIV,  fasc.  i-iii  ff. 


5£stemt3atfon  " 

I  century,    expounds   an   analogous   doctrine1    which    must   be 
!  noted  on  account  of  its  great  influence  upon  the  creation  of 
I  methodical   prayer.      Hugh   of   Palma  depends    rather    upon 
Thomas  Gallus  than  upon  St  Bonaventure.      His  aim  is  to 
!  lead  the  soul  to  divine  wisdom  and  to  mystical  contemplation 
as  understood  by  the  Pseudo-Dionysius.     His  study  is,  there- 
fore, above  all  mystical.    But  the  principles  which  he  sets  forth 
will  help  to  guide  souls  in  the  ordinary  ways  of  perfection  : 

"  Three  ways,"  says  he,  "  lead  to  God  :  the  purgative  way  ^ 

wherein   the  mind  is  disposed  to   learn  true  wisdom.      The 

I  second  is  called  illuminative,  in  which  the  mind  by  reflection 

is  kindled  unto  love.     The  third  is  the  unitive  way,  in  which 

!  the  mind  is   raised  by   God  alone   above  all   understanding, 

reason,  and  discernment."2 

In  the  purgative  way,  as  Hugh  of  Palma  explains,  the 
soul  must  be  humble  and  conceive  sorrow  for  its  sins.  By 
sin  it  has  despised  its  Creator  and  tried  to  find  its  happiness 
outside  of  him.  By  prayer  the  sinner  will  obtain  the  cleans- 
ing graces  that  he  needs  for  removing  the  rust  of  sin  which 
hinders  the  influx  of  the  divine  light  within  him.  The 
Christian  will  then  enter  into  the  illuminative  way.  By  medi- 
tation upon  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  by  seeking  for  the  mystical 
sense  of  Scripture  he  will  rise  up  to  the  love  of  God.  He  will 
thus  grow  skilful  in  the  discovery  of  the  allegorical  teachings 
of  Holy  Writ,  an  art  so  much  appreciated  afterwards  by  the 
makers  of  methods  of  prayer.  Hugh  of  Palma  calls  this  art 
via  illuminativa  theorica3 — the  theoretical  illuminative  way — 
the  practical  illuminative  way  being  the  actual  experience  of 
the  love  of  God. 

At  the  term  of  the  unitive  way  comes  wisdom,  the  most 
perfect  knowledge  of  God  which  is  to  be  found  by  the  mind's 
unknowing — that  is  to  say,  without  the  help  of  imagination, 
reason,  and  understanding.  This  knowledge  is  a  fruit  of  the 
divine  love  arising  in  the  affective  summit  of  the  soul  closely 
united  with  God.4 

He  who  would  traverse  these  spiritual  ways  must  submit 
to  discipline,   give  himself  up  to  exercises,   and  use  certain 

1  In  his  Thcologia  mystica,  also  called  De  triflici  via  ad  safientiam 
et  divinorum  conte?n-plationem  or  else  Viae  Sion  lugent  from  the  open- 
ing words  of  the  treatise.  This  was  long  ascribed  to  St  Bonaventure 
and  edited  among  his  works;  but  in  the  1755  Venice  edition  it  is  in 
Vol.  XI.     Cf.  Diet,  de  Thiol,  cath.,  art.  Hugues  de  Palma. 

1  Triplex  est  igitur  via  ista  ad  Deum,  scilicet  furgativa,  qua  mens 
ad  discendam  veram  safientiam  disfonitur.  Secunda  vero  illuminativa 
dicitur,  qua  mens  cogitando  ad  amoris  inflammationem  accenditur. 
Tertia  unitiva,  qua  mens  super  omnem  intellectum,  rationem  et  intelli- 
gentiam  a  solo  Deo  sursum  actu  dirigitur  {Mystica  Theol.,  prologus, 
Venice  Edition,  XI,  345). 

'  ibid.,  pp.  352-366. 

1  ibid.,  pp.  366-375.  This  is  an  anti-intellectualist  form  of  mysticism. 
Cf.  ibid.,  pp.  395-404.     See  also  Gerson,  Opera,  torn.  Ill,  pp.  432  ff. 


12  Christian  Spirituality 

"  devices,"  as  Hugh  of  Palma  calls  them.  Self-examination  for 
sins  committed — to  be  made  discreetly  so  as  not  to  disturb  ' 
the  soul  with  sinful  recollections1 — is  obligatory  at  the  begin-  j 
ning  of  the  purgative  way.  Then  meditation  on  death  and 
the  day  of  judgement,  on  the  sorrowful  passion  of  Christ, 
and  on  the  goodness  and  bountifulness  of  God  will  fill  the 
newly  converted  with  lively  contrition.  Meditation  will  also 
stimulate  prayer  during  the  illuminative  way,  and  thus 
increase  in  them  the  love  of  God.  Its  role  continues  until  the 
threshold  of  contemplation,  when  the  intellectual  faculties  are 
bound  and  become  passive. 

In  proportion,  as  the  degrees  of  the  spiritual  life  get  classi- 
fied, meditation  itself  grows  more  methodical.  We  shall  see 
how  methodization  was  worked  out  at  the  end  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance,  in  the  Low 
Countries  and  France,  in   Italy  and  Spain. 


Mi 


II— METHODICAL  PRAYER  IN  THE  LOW  COUN- 
TRIES, IN  FRANCE,  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN,  AT 
THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES,  AND  AT  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  THE  RENAISSANCE 

At  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  chiefly  the  Franciscan 
School2  which  inspired  the  founders  of  methodical  prayer. 

The  works  of  St  Bonaventure,  especially  the  De  triplici  via, 
provided  them  with  the  theory  of  the  three  ways  of  the 
spiritual  life  in  which  the  part  played  by  meditation  is  of 
capital  importance.  David  of  Augsburg  (11272)  was  also 
one  of  their  great  favourites.  His  celebrated  Directory,3  in 
which  he  shows  such  competence  in  laying  down  the  rules  for 
the  guidance  of  Franciscan  novices,  was  in  all  hands  from 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Outside  the  Fran- 
ciscan School  the  most  quoted  writers  are  St  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Chancellor  Gerson,4  and  the  Carthusians,  Hugh  of  Palma, 
Ludolph  of  Saxony,  and  Denys  de  Riken. 

1  Hugh  of  Palma,  Mystica  theol.,  cap.  i,  particula  ii. 

2  The  Franciscan  School  was  faithful  to  the  doctrine  of  the  three 
ways.  The  Formula  vitae  christianae,  published  in  1533  by  Gaspar 
Hasgerus,  Provincial  of  Germany,  expounds  it  at  great  length. 

3  De  exterioris  et  interioris  hominis  compositione,  Quaracchi,  1899. 
Ubertino  da  Casale's  Arbor  vitae  has  also  been  sometimes  quoted. 

4  Gerson  never  composed  any  method  of  prayer.  In  his  treatise  On 
Meditation  he  thus  defines  it  :  V ehemens  cordis  applicatio  ad  aliquid 
investigandum  et  inveniendum  fructuose.  He  brings  out  clearly  both 
its  profitableness  and  its  difficulties.  He  would  prefer  meditation  to  be 
affective  rather  than  speculative.  As  to  how  it  should  be  made,  he 
refers  everyone  to  his  own  spiritual  director  [Opera  omnia,  Antwerp, 
torn.  Ill,  449-455).  The  treatises  De  monte  contemplations  and  De 
mystica  theologia  are  those  most  quoted  by  writers  on  the  theory  of 
methodical  prayer. 


i 


jilt 


P 
I 


S^stemi3ation  13 

Methodical  prayer  sprang  from  the  anxiety  to  reform  the 
clergy  and  the  religious  Orders  at  the  end  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance.  The  holy 
men  who  worked  for  this  reformation  were  rightly  concerned 
with  giving  intenser  spiritual  life  to  priests  and  monks  by 
means  of  meditation.  In  their  writings  they  constantly  recur 
to  the  need  of  meditating,  to  the  best  hour  for  doing  it,  to  the 
length  of  time  to  be  spent  upon  it  every  day,  and,  lastly,  to 
the  subjects  best  adapted  to  meditation  according  to  each 
person's  stage  in  the  spiritual  life. 

Thus  was  gradually  formulated  a  method  of  prayer  both 
precise  and  detailed.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  appeared  the  Exercitatoria  or  collections  of  exercises 
laid  down  for  every  day  of  the  week. 


In  the  Low  Countries  amongst  the  Brethren  of  the  Common 
Life  methodical  prayer,  properly  so  called,1  seems  to  make 
its  first  appearance. 

The  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life  and  the  Canons  of 
Windesheim  always  held  meditation  in  honour.2  Gerard  de 
Groot,  their  founder,  recommended  his  followers  to  meditate 
on  the  passion  of  Christ,  so  that  they  might  desire  to  imitate 
their  crucified  Lord.3  He  also  proposed  other  subjects  for 
meditation  on  a  predetermined  plan  :  first  the  teachings  of 
the  Gospel,  then  those  of  the  Old  Testament,  lastly  the 
teaching  of  the  saints  and  the  doctors.4 

Florentius  Radewijns5  (11400)  closely  follows  St  Bonaven- 
ture,  and  shows  his  disciples  the  importance  of  meditation  in 
the  three  ways  of  the  spiritual  life.  Gerard  Zerbolt  of 
Zutphen,  too,  proves  how  meditation  may  "  reform "  the 
three  powers  of  the  soul  :  the  understanding,  the  memory, 
and  the  will  upset  by  original  sin.  The  place  of  these  facul- 
ties  in    Ignatian   meditation   is   well   known.      According   to 

1  Hugh  of  St  Victor's  method  of  intuitive  meditation  could  not  be  a 
method  of  prayer  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words.  It  is  as  much 
scientific  as  religious  meditation.  Severed  from  the  philosophico-re- 
ligious  system  to  which  it  belongs,  it  very  largely  loses  its  significance. 

2  Here  I  shall  follow  P.  Watrigant  who  has  so  well  studied  the 
history  of  methodical  meditation  in  order  to  throw  light  upon  the 
origin  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius.  Histoire  de  la 
meditation  methodique  in  the  Revue  d 'ascetique  et  de  mystique,  Avril, 
1922,  Janvier,  1923,  and  Collection  de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Exercices  de 
saint  I gnace. 

3  Venerabilis  Gerardi  Magni  Epistolae  VII,  published  by  Mgr.  de 
Ram,  in  the  Report  of  the  sessions  of  the  Belgian  Royal  Historical 
Society,  Brussels,  iS6o,  p.  87. 

4  De  quatuor  generibus  meditabilium,  quoted  by  Mauburnus, 
Rosetum  exerciliorum  spiritualium,  Bale,   1504,  CXLI. 

6  Tractatulus  de  spiritualibus  exercitiis  seu  Tractatulus  de  extirpa- 
tione  vitiorum,  Freiburg  im  B.,  1862.  Cf.  Symphorien  de  Mons, 
Etudes  franciscaines,  1921,  pp.  40  ff. 


i4  Cbiistian  Spirituality 

Gerard  of  Zutphen,1  order  is  restored  to  the  understanding  by 
spiritual  knowledge,  to  the  memory  by  meditation,  and  to  the 
will  by  the  curbing  of  concupiscence.  Gerard  loves  to  dwell 
upon  meditation.  He  points  out  what  should  be  preferred  in 
meditation  in  order  to  rise  to  the  topmost  heights  of  devotion. 
The  subjects  most  strongly  recommended  are  those  which 
have  to  do  with  the  last  things  and  with  the  passion  of  Christ. 

To  facilitate  such  meditations  as  far  as  possible,  in  the 
Windesheim  monasteries  they  made  collections  in  which  the 
mysteries  of  our  Saviour's  life,  and  particularly  of  his  Pas- 
sion, were  arranged  according  to  the  days  of  the  week.2 
They  also  divided  the  truths  touching  the  last  things.  Every 
morning  the  religious  had  to  meditate  on  a  subject  remind- 
ing them  of  God's  blessings,  or  on  some  circumstance  of  the 
passion  to  kindle  within  them  the  love  of  God,  and  on  another 
in  the  evening  connected  with  the  world  to  come,  so  that  they 
might  never  lose  the  feeling  of  dread.3  In  those  houses  in 
which  meditation  was  made  only  once  a  day,  subjects  of 
consolation  alternated  with  such  as  inspired  fear.4 

Despite  this  wise  distribution  of  subjects,  meditation 
seemed  to  the  religious  of  Windesheim  a  difficult  thing. 
They  were  filled  with  distractions,  and  found  it  hard  to  reflect. 
They  felt  the  need  of  a  method,  a  kind  of  intellectual  and 
moral  discipline,  which  would  compel  their  attention  and  keep 
their  minds  from  wandering. 

A  friend  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  John  Wessel  Gransfort 
(fi489),6  drew  up  a  method  for  them,  "a  ladder  for  medi- 
tation"6— scala  meditatoria — which  was  very  popular.  It 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  of  all  methods  of  prayer,  for 
those  that  followed  it  are  very  like  it.      It  consists  of  three 

1  Gerard  of  Zutphen,  De  reformations  interiori  seu  virium  naturae 
and  De  sfiritualibus  ascensionibus ;  M.  de  la  Bigne,  Maxima 
Bibliotheca  Patrum,  Lugd.,  1677,  torn.  XXVI,  237-289. 

*  De  sfiritualibus  ascensionibus,  cap.  xlv,  de  modo  meditandi. 

3  See  the  series  of  such  meditations  in  the  Efistola  de  vita  et  fassione 
Domini  nostri  ] esu  Christi  et  aliis  devotis  exercitiis,  secundum  quae 
jratres  et  laid  in  Windesem  se  solent  exercere,  in  John  Busch,  Chroni- 
con  Windeshemense,  Halle,  1886,  pp.  226-244. 

*  Consuetudines  domus  nostrae  of  Thierry  de  Herxen  (  +  1459),  second 
Rector  of  Zwolle,  in  Narratio  de  inchoatione  Domus  clericorum  in 
Zwollis  (Amsterdam,  1908),  p.  211.  See,  too,  Formula  sfiritualium 
exercitiorum  seu  meditationum  fro  novitiis  in  religione  instruendis, 
which  contains  several  series  of  seven  meditations  (Watrigant,  Revue 
d'ascetique  et  de  mystique,  1922,  pp.   145  ff.). 

*  A  disciple  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  at  Zwolle,  and 
afterwards  professor  of  literature  in  the  same  house.  He  was  a  restless 
person  who  became  a  Nominalist.  Luther,  though  doubtlessly  mistaken, 
regarded  him  as  a  precursor  of  Protestantism. 

*  The  work  is  entitled  :  Tractatus  de  cohibendis  cogitationibus  et  de 
modo  constituendarum  meditationum.  The  Scala  is  found  in  chap.  ix. 
Aura  furior,  hoc  est  M.  Wesselii  Gransfortii  Of  era  omnia,  Amstelo- 
dami,  1617,  pp.  280  ff. 


5£stemt3ation  15 

)arts  :  preparatory  steps  (gradus  preparatorii) — i.e.,  driving 
iway  thoughts  unconnected  with  the  subject  of  the  meditation 
md  the  retention  of  such  as  are  best  suited  to  it ;  ascending 
;teps  (gradus  processorii) — i.e.,  for  the  orderly  training  of 
:he  mind,  the  judgement,  and  the  will ;  the  final  steps  (gradus 
erminatorii),  which  sum  up  the  whole  of  the  meditation  by 
entrusting  to  God  the  generous  desires  kindled  in  the  course 
>f  the  whole  exercise.  Each  part  includes  a  somewhat  large 
lumber  of  acts  to  be  made,1  and  this  renders  the  method  com- 
plicated and  even  wearisome  if  carried  out  in  all  its  details. 

It  was  by  such  practices  that  the  religious  of  the  New 
Devotion  kept  up  the  spirit  of  fervour  and  were  able  to  carry 
:hrough  the  reformation  of  a  large  number  of  monasteries. 
\nd  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  practice  of  meditation  was  so 
iffective.  How  could  the  religious,  who  daily  meditated  on 
mpressive  and  saving  truths,  and  on  the  moving  evidences  .- 
Df  Christ's  love  for  men,  remain  hardened  in  sin?  Such  a 
state  of  mind  is  psychologically  inconceivable.  A  life  of 
axity  is  only  possible  when  the  teachings  of  the  faith  are 
forgotten.  When  these  are  kept  unceasingly  in  the  fore- 
front of  consciousness  by  meditation,  they  soon  exercise  a 
supreme  sway  over  a  man's  life.  Furthermore,  if  an 
.ndifferent  religious  gives  himself  up  freely  to  daily  medita- 
tion, either  he  will  reform  his  ways  or  else  leave  his  monas- 
tery. Whichever  he  does,  the  community  to  which  he 
belongs  will  soon  become  fervent,  for  before  long  it  will  con- 
sist entirely  of  religious  who  are  faithful  to  their  duties. 

This  is  just  what  happened  to  the  communities  which 
embraced  the  practices  of  the  New  Devotion.2  The  secular 
clergy,  too,  found  in  the  Windesheim  system  of  meditation* 
an  effective  means  of  reform.  The  famous  author  of  the 
Reformatorium  vitae  mornmque  et  honestatis  clericorum3 
recommends  the  clergy  to  meditate  upon  the  same  subjects 
as  those  proposed  to  the  Brethren  of  the  house  of  Zwolle. 

From  the  Low  Countries  the  Windesheim  reformation 
spread  to  France.     John  Mauburnus,*  a  religious  of  Mount 

1  The  gradus  preparatorii  are  two  in  number  :  Excussio  [repuhio 
illorum  quae  minus  cogitanda),  Electio  magis  cogitandorum.  The 
gradus  processorii  are  sixteen  :  Commemoratio,  Consideratio,  Atteniio, 
Explanatio,  Tractaiio,  Dijudicatio,  Causatio,  Ruminatio,  Gustatio, 
Querela,  Optio,  Confessio,  Oratio,  Mensio  seu  Commensuratio,  Obse- 
cratio,  Fiducia.  The  gradus  terminatorii  are  three  :  Gratiarum  actio, 
Commendatio,  Permissio  [in  Dei  voluntate  resignatio). 

*  Cf.  Busch,  Liber  de  reformatione  monasteriorum,  Ed.  Grube,  Halle, 
1886. 

*  This  author  is  James  Philippi,  brother  of  Thierry  de  Herxen, 
Rector  of  the  house  of  Zwolle. 

4  John  Mauburnus  or  Mombaer  was  born  at  Brussels.  He  reformed 
the  Abbey  of  Saint-Severin  near  Chateau-Landon  (Seine-et-Marne), 
and  afterwards  the  Abbey  of  Livry.     He  died  in  Paris  in  1502. 


1 6  Cbristian  Spirituality 

St  Agnes,  who  had  known  Thomas  a  Kempis,  came  thither 
with  a  few  of  his  brethren.  He  reformed,  in  particular,  the 
Abbey  of  the  Canons  Regular  of  Livry,   near  Paris. 

Mauburnus  urgently  recommended  meditation.  He  left  a 
large  collection  of  small  treatises  (tituli),  a  Spiritual  Rosary 
(Rosetum),  in  which  he  puts  forward  exercises  and  medita- 
tions intended  for  the  use  of  the  religious  for  their  own  sancti- 
fication.1  The  nineteenth  treatise  is  a  Directory  of  Medita- 
tion (Meditatorium).2  In  it  the  writer  reproduces  the  Scala 
meditatoria  of  John  Wessel  Gransfort,  and  comments  thereon. 
But  he  introduces  it  with  a  fairly  complete  theory  of  medita- 
tion, the  principles  of  which  he  borrows  from  Dionysius  the 
Carthusian,  from  the  author  of  the  De  triplici  via,  and,  above 
all,  from  Gerson.  After  a  preface  pointing  out  the  advan- 
tages, the  prerogatives,  and  the  necessity  of  meditation,  he 
deals  with  the  dispositions  required  in  order  to  meditate,  with 
appropriate  subjects,  with  the  devices  to  be  used,  and,  in  fine, 
with  the  method  to  be  followed. 

Mauburnus  looks  for  this  method  in  St  Augustine,  in 
St  Bernard,  in  Hugh  and  Richard  of  St  Victor,  in  Gerson, 
and  in  other  writers  prior  to  the  fifteenth  century :  and  since 
none  of  them  had  formulated  one,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  he  could  not  find  it.  He  then  puts  forward  with  certain 
explanations  the  Scala  meditatoria  of  John  Wessels  Gransfort.3 


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The  reformation  of  several  Benedictine  abbeys  was  another 
fruit  of  methodical  meditation. 

It  began  in  Italy,  and  its  beginner  was  the  Venerable  Louis 
Barbo,4  Abbot  of  St  Justina  of  Padua,  and  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Treviso.  The  Benedictine  monasteries,  which  received  the  Mont' 
reform  after  the  fashion  of  St  Justina's,  combined  with  it  to 
made  the  Congregation  of  St  Justina  of  Padua.  Among  them, 
in   1503,  stands  out  that  of  Monte  Cassino. 


1  Rosetum  exercitiorum  sfiritualium  et  sacrarum  meditationum, 
published  in  1494,  then  at  Bale  in  1504,  at  Paris  in  1610,  at  Milan  in 
1603,  and  at  Douai  in  1620.  The  first  treatise  is  entitled  Eruditorium 
Exercitiorum  and  is  a  kind  of  introduction.  Then  follows  Ordinarium 
vitae  religiosae,  Dietarium  exercitiorum,  Directoriu?n  solvendarum 
Horarum,  Chiro-psalterium ,  or  a  means  of  fixing  a  man's  attention 
during  the  chant;  other  treatises  on  Holy  Communion  and  Feasts; 
Examinatorium  conscientiae,  Destructorium  vitiorum,  the  Profectorium 
virtutum  and  the  Meditatorium,  or  guide  to  meditation.  Watrigant, 
La  genese  des  Exercises  de  S  Ignace  {Etudes,  Vol.  LXXIII,  p.  203). 

2  Given  in  part  by  P.  Watrigant,  Quelques  promoteurs  de  la  medita- 
tion  au   XV e   siecle   [Bibliothique   des   Exercises   de   S  Ignace,   n.    59, 

PP-  35-60- 

3  Mauburnus  counsels  meditation  on  the  Mysteries  of  the  Rosary, 
which  was  then  becoming  popular. 

1  He  was  first  a  commendatory  of  the  Abbey  of  the  Canons  Regular 
of  St  George  in  Alga  at  Venice,  of  which  St  Laurence  Justinian  after- 
wards became  Abbot  General.     He  died  in  1443. 


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Louis  Barbo  drew  up  a  Modus  meditandi,1  which  is  rather 

collection  of  meditations  than  a  method  of  prayer  in  the 
strict  sense.  The  Bishop  of  Treviso  mentions  three  kinds  of 
Drayer  :  vocal  prayer,  which  is  the  easiest  and  best  adapted 
o  beginners;  meditation,  which  is  the  second  degree  of 
grayer;  and  contemplation,  to  which  one  rises  by  well  made 
-neditation.  To  help  meditation,  the  seven  days  of  the  week2 
lave  fairly  fully  explained  subjects  divided  between  them. 
Brief  hints  as  to  how  to  meditate  are  thrown  in. 

Whatever  be  the  merits  of  the  Modus  meditandi,  it  cannot 
compare  with  the  Ejercitatorio,  which  was  shortly  to  come 
rom  the  pen  of  the  Spanish  Benedictine,  Garcia  Ximenes  de 
Cisneros.  It  appears  to  have  been  by  means  of  meditation 
hat  the  reformation  of  many  Spanish  Benedictine  monas- 
eries  was  brought  about  towards  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages' 
md  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance ;  and  it  was  meditation 
hat  reformed  the  Carmelite  Order  a  little  later  on. 

At  the  request  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV,  Louis  Barbo  wrote 
o  the  Benedictine  Congregation  of  Valladolid3  to  acquaint 
t  with  the  Italian  use  of  meditation.  This  Congregation 
vas  to  be  adorned  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  John  of  Cas- 
agniza,4  the  confidential  adviser  of  Philip  II,  who  honoured 
he  Benedictine  Order  by  his  piety  and  knowledge.  It  was 
rom  the  monastery  of  St-Benedict-of- Valladolid  that  Garcia 
vimenes  de  Cisneros  started  in  1492  with  twelve  monks  to 
ule  the  Abbey  of  Montserrat  in  the  middle  of  Catalonia  and 

0  bring  about  its  reformation.5  He  took  away  with  him  an 
xtensive  knowledge  of  methodical  prayer  and  a  strong  con- 
iction  that  with  its  help  he  would  reform  the  monks  of 
dontserrat.  No  doubt  he  had  there  come  to  know  the  prin- 
ipal  works  of  St  Bonaventure,  the  writers  of  the  New  Devo- 

1  First  Ed.,  Venice,  1523,  given  by  P.  Watrigant  in  Quelques  fro- 
loteurs  de  la  Meditation  methodique  [Bibliotheque  des  Exercices,  no.  59, 
919).  Other  editions  :  Rome  (1605),  Salzburg  (1634),  Cologne  (1644), 
'.atisbon  (1856)  following  the  Exercitatorium  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros. 

*  Meditation  was  to  be  devoted  on  Sunday  to  the  love  of  God  as 
reator,  on  Monday  to  the  fall  and  its  consequences,  on  Tuesday  to  the 
irth  of  Christ,  on  Wednesday  to  the  flight  into  Egypt,  on  Thursday  to 
le  persecutions  of  Christ,  on  Friday  to  the  Passion,  on  Saturday  to 
le  descent  into  Hades,  the  Resurrection  and  the  Ascension. 

Dom  Besse,  La  Congregation  esfagnole  de  Valladolid  [Revue  bene- 
ictine,  Vol.  XIX. 

*  The  chief  works  of  John  of  Castagniza  are  :  Institutionum  divinae 
ietatis  libri  quinque,  in  which  he  sets  forth  some  of  the  methods  of 
le  spiritual  life ;  De  la  ferjeccion  de  la  Vida  Christiana.     This  work 

1  considered  by  some  to  give  the  original  text  of  the  Spiritual  Combat. 
his  controversy  will  be  noticed  farther  on.  John  of  Castagniza  died 
t  Salamanca  in  1598. 

5  On  Montserrat  and  its  celebrated  pilgrimage  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
tary,    see    Dom    Besse,    Revue    des    questions    historiques,    Vol.    XVII 
897)»  PP-  22-31. 

III.  2 


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s 


1 8  Cbristian  Spirituality 

tion,  and  Gerson,  who  dealt  with  meditation.     He  used  them 
in  the  compilation  of  his  Ejercitatorio.1 

Ill  — THE    FULL    GROWTH    OF    METHODICAL 
PRAYER— GARCIA  XIMENES  DE   CISNEROS 

Garcia  Ximenes  de  Cisneros,  and  even  St  Ignatius  of 
'  Loyola,  belong-  to  the  Spanish  School,  and  stand  forth,  espe- 
cially St  Ignatius,  among  its  most  illustrious  representatives. 
I  venture  to  set  them  apart  from  the  other  writers  of  this 
school.  But  they  are  so  identified  with  the  history  of  methodical 
prayer  that  this  study  on  the  growth  of  that  exercise  would 
be  quite  incomplete,  and  even  altogether  incomprehensible, 
if  we  did  not  note  at  the  outset  the  place  they  hold  in  it. 

Garcia  Ximenes  de  Cisneros2  reformed  the  Abbey  of 
Montserrat  by  making  all  his  monks  follow  his  Spiritual 
Exercises.3  Those  who  were  held  in  the  bonds  of  sin  did 
them  to  be  converted  and  cleansed  from  their  faults  : 

"  The  monk,"  says  the  holy  Abbot,  "who  desires  to  bring 
back  from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem  his  soul  made  in  the  likeness 
of  God  (Gen.  i,  26) — that  is  to  say,  to  tear  it  away  from 
instability  and  disturbance  to  restore  it  to  quietness  and  peace 
— such  a  monk,    I  say,  must  imitate  David's  example,   and 

1  Cf.  Revue  binidictine,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  362-378.  Watrigant,  Quel- 
ques  promoteurs  de  la  meditation  mithodique,  pp.  69-76  (Bibliotheque 
des  Exercices ,  no.  59). 

8  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  born  at  Toledo,  related  to  the  famous  Cardinal   1 
Ximenes,    in    1475    entered    the   monastery  of    St-Benedict-the-Royal   of: 
Valladolid  at  the  age  of  twenty  years.     He  was  the  first  reformed  Abbot 
of   Montserrat,    where   he   died   in    1510.      He  left   two    Spanish   works; 
printed  in   1500  at  Montserrat,  where  he  had  set  up  a  printing  press  a 
Ejercitatorio    de    la     Vida    espiritual    and    Directorio    de    las    Horas, 
canonicas.     There  have  been  numerous  Spanish  editions  of  the  Ejercita- 
torio.    The  last  was  in   1912,   at  Barcelona,  by  Dom  Fausto  Curiel,  i 
Benedictine    of    Montserrat.      Latin    translations    of    the    Directorium 
horarum   canonicarum   and   Exercitatorium   vitae   spiritualis  have  been 
published  as  follows  :   At  Paris  in   151 1,  Venice  in   1555,  etc.,  and  the 
last    at    Ratisbon    in    1856,    Exercitatorium    spirituale    cum    Directorio 
horarum    canonicarum.      French    translations  :    Exercices    spirituels   di 
Dom    Garcia    de    Cisneros    by    Dom    Anselme    Thevard,    Paris,    1655; 
Exercices    spirituels    ei    Directoire    des    heures    canoniales    by    Joseph  I''"* 
Rousseau,  Paris,   1902.     The  Ejercitatorio  consists  of  four  parts.     Tht 
three  first  set  forth  meditations  intended  for  the  three  ways ;  the  purga^ 
tive,  the  illuminative,  and  the  unitive ;  the  fourth  has  to  do  with  con 
templation.    The  Directorium  horarum  canonicarum  deals  with  spiritua 
preparation  for  the  recitation  of  the  Office,  with  the  manner  of  recita 
tion,  and  with  the  means  to  be  used  to  store  up  its  fruits. 

8  A  Montserrat  MS.  belonging  to  the  time  of  Garcia  de  Cisnero 
reads  thus  :  Exercitatorium  vitae  spiritualis,  in  quo  opere  pretium  es 
monachos  esse  apprime  instructos  et  memoriter  retinere  universa  ill  j 
meditandi,  orandi  et  contemplandi  viae  purgativae,  illuminativae  I 
unitivae  exercitia,  et  donee  ea  tarn  practice  quam  theoretice  plenitt 
noverit  seu  sciverit  non  permittatur  in  aliis  libris  legere  vel  studer 
(Revue  binidictine,  torn.   XVII,  p.  369). 


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rrect  and  purify  his  soul  by  spiritual  exercises,  setting-  it 
te  from  vice  and  sin  and  from  all  disorderly  affections, 
len  only  will  it  be  able  to  receive  heavenly  graces  and 
fts."1 

Even  the  fervent  religious  were  not  dispensed  from  doing 
e  Exercises.  They  found  in  them  an  increase  of  zeal  for  all 
tod.  Novices  were  closely  bound  to  them  as  the  best 
sans  of  training.  To  encourage  the  exercitant  to  enter 
solutely  upon  the  way  of  purification,  Garcia  shows  him, 
the  first  place,  the  necessity  of  turning  his  attention  to  set 
ercises,  and  then  makes  known  to  him  the  fruit  to  be 
.thered  from  them,  the  dispositions  with  which  they  should 

begun,  the  way  to  arrange  them,  the  place  in  which  they 
e  to  be  performed,  which  is  the  monastery  chapel,  and 
;tly,  the  hours  of  the  day  that  are  to  be  devoted  to  them, 
at  is,  immediately  after  Lauds  or  Compline,  according  to 
e  subject  of  the  meditation.  Further,  such  subjects  are 
ed  for  every  day  of  the  three  weeks  normally  assigned  to 
e  Exercises — the  fourth  part  of  the  Ejercitatorio  being 
ecially  intended   for  contemplatives. 

The  first  week  is  given  to  the  purgative  way.  The  medita- 
ms  will  be  in  the  morning",  after  Lauds  :  Monday,  on  sin; 
tesday,  on  death ;  Wednesday,  on  hell ;  Thursday,  on  the 
dgement ;  Friday,  on  the  Passion ;  Saturday,  on  the  Blessed 
rgin  ;  Sunday,  on  heaven.  Fear  and  contrition  are  the  two 
ief  feelings  intended  to  be  aroused  within  the  exercitant 
ring  the  first  week. 

Cisneros  gives  a  detailed  explanation  of  the  method  to  be 
lowed  in  these  meditations.  At  the  time  laid  down,  the 
>nk  goes  to  the  chapel,  kneels  down,  makes  the  sign  of 
;  cross  on  forehead,  lips,  and  breast,  and  recites  the  Anti- 
on  :  Come,  Holy  Ghost,  fill  the  hearts  of  thy  faithful;  and 
idle  in   them   the  fire   of  thy  love;  and  thrice   the   verse: 

God,  come  unto  my  aid;  O  Lord,  make  haste  to  help  me. 
ten,  he  must  practise  recollection,  and  put  himself  in  the 
;sence  of  God,  who  is  to  be  regarded  during  the  first  week 

a  strict  Judge,  angry  with  sin.  Then  come  the  three 
ints  of  meditation.  If  he  meditates  on  sin,  he  tries  to 
iceive  hatred  of  it  by  considering  the  sins  of  the  fallen 
gels  and  of  Adam,  and  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  recalling 
1  death  of  Jesus  Christ  and  searching  out  his  own  sins. 

the  second  point,  he  excites  himself  to  repentance  and 
rrow  for  his  shortcomings.  At  the  third,  he  begs  forgive- 
Iss  with  confidence,  praying  to  God,  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 

the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Saints.  The  prayer  ends  by 
inking   God   for  having  granted  him   the  blessing  of  con- 

tion.     He  smites  his  breast  three  times,  and  says  with  the 

1  Chap,  ii  (Rousseau,  p.  3). 


t 


htii 


.: 


20  Cbrfstian  Spirituality 

publican  :  0  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.  He  then  rises 
to  recite  a  Psalm  and  a  prayer,  and  retires  in  a  state  of 
recollection. 

In   the    illuminative    and   unitive   ways   the   method   is   the 
same,  but  the  considerations  made  and  the  feeling's  aroused 
are  different.      Moreover,  it  is  not  always  necessary  to  follow 
the   method   in    every    part.      When    devotion    and   love    are 
stirred  within,  a  man  must  abandon  himself  to  them  and  take 
no    further    pains    about   applying-    the   method.       When    the 
monk — and  we  must  not  forget  that  Garcia  de  Cisneros  is 
writing  for  monks — has  worked  at  his  own  purification  for  a 
certain  period,   even   for  a  month  if  necessary,  he  passes  o$ 
to  the  illuminative  way,   in  which  he  becomes  illumined  an| 
enlightened   as  to  supernatural   realities  by  the   rays  of  the 
divine  light.      On  entering  into  this  stage,   he  will  carefully 
examine    his    conscience     for    the    purpose    of    confession. 
Cisneros  gives  a  model  of  this  examination,   which  is   made  I 
in   the  evening  after  Compline  during  the  time  of  the  great  I 
silence.  *  To   arouse   the   love   of   God   and   contrition    in   the  " 
soul,  this  is  followed  by  a  week  of  meditations,  always  com-  F 
ing  after  Compline  :  Monday,  on  creation  ;  Tuesday,  on  eleva- F 
tion  to  the  supernatural  order;  Wednesday,  on  religious  voca-  f 
tion ;    Thursday,    on    justification;    Friday,   on   blessings   per-r2 
sonally  experienced;  Saturday,  on  divine  providence;  Sunday,! 
on  heaven.      Meditation  may  also  be  made  upon  the  life  anjj 
examples   of  Christ  and    the    Saints,    and    upon    the    Lord'}  "" 
Prayer. 

I  In  the  unitive  way,  after  the  soul  has  been  purified  from  its  ^ a 
sins  and  illumined  with  heavenly  light,   it  is  lovingly  united  orr 
with  its  Creator,   rejoicing  in  his  excellence  and  desiring  t  ' 
please    him    alone.      Deep    recollection,    contempt    for    th     'c 
world's  goods,    and   the   constant  thought   of   God's   perfec-  f 
tions  are  here  indispensable.     The  divine  perfections  are  th    w,] 
special  subject  of  meditation  during  the  third  week.     Aftei    ;: 
the  evening  Office,  on  Monday  God  is  considered  as  the  prin*  vc\ 
ciple  of  all  things,  on  Tuesday  as  the  beauty  of  the  universe 
on   Wednesday  as  the  glory   of  the  world,   on   Thursday  as  *"., 
sovereign   charity,    on   Friday   as  a   rule   of   every  being,    orf 
Saturday  as  governing  all  things  in   profound  calmness,   Oljkr: 
Sunday  as  supreme  in  liberality.      Garcia  de  Cisneros,  follow 
ing  Hugh  of  Palma,   explains  that   in  the   unitive  way  th< 
soul  rises  to  God  by  love,  and  often  without  any  intellectu^  ] 
act;  it  feels  and  loves  far  more  than  it  sees  or  understands'  ::■ 
There  are  six  degrees  of  unitive  love  according  to  the  Saints' 
way  oi    looking  at   things  :    illumination   and   the   kindling  |J^J' 
the    soul,    sweetness,    desire,    satiety,    and    rapture.      Som> 


m 


! 


1  Richard  of  St  Victor  and  St  Bonaventure  set  forth  a  similar  gradui 
tion  of  the  love  of  God. 


5£stemt3atton  21 

riters   add   two   more  :    the   sense   of    security   and   perfect 
anquillity. 

The  love  which  produces  such  effects  is  of  the  highest  per- 
ction ;  it  is  seraphic  love.  In  order  to  attain  to  it,  the 
jay  of  ordinary  union  must  be  surpassed,  and  contemplation 
lust  be  zealously  embraced.  Garcia  de  Cisneros  therefore 
Ids  a  fourth  part  to  his  Ejercitatorio  on  contemplation.  Its 
bginning  is  in  no  way  remarkable.  Here  we  find  a  tran- 
ription  of  Gerson's  De  monte  contemplationis.  What  is 
ally  noteworthy  is  the  happy  way  in  which  the  life  and 
ission  of  Christ  are  proposed  for  contemplation.  Accord- 
g  to  Garcia  de  Cisneros  there  are  three  ways  of  contem- 
ating  our  Saviour's  life  :  we  can  either  consider  his  holy 
tmanity,  as  St  Bernard  advised,  and  conceive  an  ardent 
ve  of  it,  or  consider  Christ  himself  as  God  and  man,  or 
se  rise  from  his  manhood  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  his 
)dhead.  This  last  way  of  contemplation  is  the  most  perfect, 
ach  one  must  follow  his  inward  attraction,  conformably  to 
s  degree  of  the  spiritual  life.  Next,  Garcia  de  Cisneros 
oposes  as  subjects  for  meditation  the  principal  episodes  in 
e  life  and  Passion  of  Christ,  but  without  dividing  them  up 
to  weeks.  He  allows  contemplatives  who  are  practised  in 
ayer  a  wide  liberty  in  the  choice  of  subjects  for  meditation.1 


I  have  analyzed  the  Ejercitatorio  at  some  length  because 
its  importance.  Certainly  the  Abbot  of  Montserrat's  book 
id  a  great  influence.  It  sets  forth  a  definite  and  more 
•mplete  method  of  prayer  than  those  hitherto  found.  He 
ho  carries  out  the  Spiritual  Exercises  with  good  will  is 
:re,  we  may  say,  to  free  himself  from  sin  and  to  become 
rvent.  In  a  manner  he  fits  himself  into  a  spiritual  gear  V' 
Dm  which  he  only  gets  out  when  once  converted.2     The 

1  It  is  interesting  to  compare  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  in  his  teaching  on 
atemplation,  with  the  English  Benedictine,  David  Baker.  Born  in 
lgland  in  1575  and  reared  in  Protestantism,  Baker  was  converted  to 
.tholicism  and  went  to  Italy,  where  he  became  a  Benedictine.  He 
lis  sent  back  to  London,  where  he  died  in  1641.  He  explained  Walter 
Uton's  Scale  of  Perfection  and  wrote  on  contemplation.  Dom  S.  de 
lessy  abridged  his  teaching  in  a  little  treatise  on  contemplation, 
(titled  Sancta  Sophia,  recently  republished  in  London. 
18  A  few  years  later  than  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  another  eminent  Bene- 
ictine,  Louis  de  Blois  (I-1566),  reformed  the  Abbey  of  Liessies  with  the 
(actice  of  meditation  and  other  spiritual  exercises.  Like  the  Abbot 
(  Montserrat,  he  noticed  that  the  exterior  exercises  of  the  cloister 
jly  sanctify  the  monk  in  so  far  as  they  are  vivified  by  spiritual  union 
ith  God:  "Good,  no  doubt,  and  well-pleasing  to  God  are  such 
iterior  exercises,"  he  says,  "  as  the  devout  chanting  of  the  divine 
|aises,  the  recitation  of  long  vocal  prayers,  continued  kneeling,  the 
jving  of  outward  signs  of  devotion,  fasting,  watching,  etc.  ;  but 
l  finitely  superior  to  them  are  spiritual  exercises  whereby  man  through 
tient   desires,   not  by  the  senses  and  images  but   in   a  supernatural 


22  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

religious  were  not  the  only  ones  to  make  use  of  it.  Most 
of  the  numerous  pilgrims  who  came  to  venerate  the  Blessed 
Virgin  at  Montserrat  undertook  to  follow  the  Exercises. 
Among  them,  in  1522,  is  to  be  noted  the  famous  soldier 
wounded  at  Pampeluna,   Ignatius  of  Loyola. 

Thus  methodical  prayer  originated  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  Holy  Spirit  inspired  the  reformers 
of  the  religious  life  with  this  kind  of  exercise,  which  was 
destined  to  protect  devotion  just  when  society  was  ceasing 
to  be  Christian.  And  since  the  world,  paganized  by  the 
Renaissance  and  upset  by  Protestantism,  will  doubtless  take 
a  long  time  to  recover  its  full  Christianity,  methodical  prayer 
will  become  more  and  more  necessary.  Moreover,  it  will 
be  generalized  and  introduced  into  the  lives  of  the  ordinary 
laity,  thanks  to  the  work  of  St  Ignatius  of  Loyola.1 
, J 

manner,  rises  unto  God  to  be  united  with  him  "  (Institution  s-pirituellt, 
chap,  v,  Benedictine  translation,  Paris,  1913,  Vol.  II,  pp.  35-36).  See 
the  Regie  abrigee  du  novice. 

1  Cf.  E.  Masure,  Vascese  de  saint  Ignace  et  Vdme  moderne  (Melanges 
Watrigant,  pp.  83-87,  C.B.E.,  nos.  61-62).  Early,  indeed,  was  mental 
prayer  introduced  into  the  old  religious  Orders.  We  have  seen  it 
among  the  Benedictines.  The  Dominicans  began  to  practise  it  in  1505, 
after  the  Chapter  of  Milan.  The  Chapter  General  of  the  Franciscans 
in  1594  also  ordered  it. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE  "SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES"  OF  ST  IGNATIUS— IGNATIAN 
SPIRITUALITY— FIRST  JESUIT  WRITERS  IN  THIS  FIELD 

jA  T  the  end  of  the  evolution  of  methodical  prayer  we 
/^  find  a  masterpiece  :  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of 
/  m  St  Ignatius  ol  Loyola.1 
J  ^  These  are  the  crown  ol  the  systemization  of 
■^-  -^^-the  spiritual  life  which  was  slowly  wrought  age 
after  age  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances  and  difficulties 
and  was  completed  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance.  Like 
all  the  works  which  sum  up  a  movement  and  are  its  final 
flowering,  the  Exercises  owe  much  to  the  past.  Whatever 
be  his  genius,  whatever  the  stamp  he  impresses  on  the 
march  of  human  thought,  an  author  necessarily  depends 
upon  the  time  and  environment  in  which  he  lives  ;  and  we 
know  how  far  in  the  days  of  St  Ignatius' s  conversion  medi- 
tation had  become  methodized,  prayer  regulated,  and  the 
whole  spiritual  life  organized  and  its  various  exercises  so 
co-ordinated  as  to  create  a  real  system  of  moral  reformation. 

1  The  text  is  in  the  Monumenta  Historica  Societatis  Jesu,  Series  II, 
Vol.  I  :  Exercitia  spiritualia  sancti  Ignatii  de  Loyola  et  eorum 
|  Directoria,  Madrid,  1919.  The  Monumenta  contain  :  1.  The  original 
Castilian  text —  a  copy  of  the  Saint's  manuscript  corrected  by  himself 
and  therefore  called  the  autograph.'  2.  Five  different  Latin  translations 
of  the  Exercises:  That  of  Frusius  made  under  the  eyes  of  St  Ignatius 
and  published  in  Rome  (1548)  with  Paul  Ill's  Brief — the  Vulgate 
edition  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises;  that  of  Father  John  Roothaan, 
published  in  Rome  (1835);  an  old  Latin  translation,  the  Versio  prima, 
made  in  Paris  (about  1534)  and  ascribed  by  some  to  St  Ignatius  him- 
self ;  a  copy  of  the  text  of  the  Exercises  left  by  Pierre  Le  Fevre,  the 
disciple  and  companion  of  the  Saint  in  Paris,  to  the  Carthusians  of 
Cologne  in  1544;  and  lastly,  a  Latin  recension  of  the  Exercises  found  in 
a  manuscript  collection  made  at  Paris  (1537)  by  John  Helyar,  a  young 
Englishman. — Following  the  text  of  the  Exercises  in  a  Part  II,  the 
Monumenta  publishes  the  principal  Directories  or  collections  of  counsels 
intended  for  the  director  who  gives  the  Exercises  to  his  penitent.  They 
are  divided  into  three  groups  :  1.  Directories  written  by  St  Ignatius — 
these  are  mainly  notes;  2.  Old  Directories  by  John  Polanco,  Jacques 
Miron,  Gilles  Gonzales  Davila,  Fabio  de  Fabiis,  etc.  ;  3.  the  two  great 
Directories  published  by  Claud  Acquaviva  in  1591  (Monumenta,  chap. 
xxi,  pp.  1075  ff.),  and  in  1599  (id.,  chap,  xxxix,  1179  &■)■  1°  tDe  two 
last  Directories,  the  three  ways — purgative,  illuminative,  and  unitive — 
are  described  and  adapted  to  the  Exercises.— French  translations  by 
Pierre  Jennesseaux  from  Roothaan's  Latin  text  (Paris,  1857),  and  by 
Paul  Debuchy  from  the  Spanish  autograph  (Paris,  undated). 

23 


24  Cbristian  Spirituality 

I_SOURCES   OF   THE    SPIRITUAL    EXERCISES1 

It  has  been  said  that  St  Ignatius  lived  the  Exercises  before 
composing-  them.  He  has  himself  stated  that  "  he  did  not 
make  all  the  Exercises  at  one  and  the  same  time,  but  that 
he  thought  that  the  thing's  which  he  observed  within  him- 
self might  be  useful  to  others  also,  and  therefore  he  wrote 
them  down,  [e.g.,  what  concerns]  examination  of  conscience 
by  the  use  of  lines."  Thus  we  shall  find  traces  of  his  famous 
work  in  the  story  of  his  conversion.2 


Ignatius  was  born  in  1495,  according  to  the  Bollandists, 
at  the  castle  of  Loyola  near  the  town  of  Azpeitia  in  Guipuz- 
coa,  a  Basque  province  bordering  upon  the  French  frontier. 
Until  the  age  of  twenty-six  he  gave  himself  up  to  the 
"  vanities  of  the  world,  taking  the  greatest  delight  in  the 
exercise  of  arms,  being  urged  on,  as  he  was,  by  a  great 
and  vain  desire  of  worldly  honour."3 

On  May  20,  1521,  his  right  leg  was  crushed  in  the  defence 
of  the  fortress  of  Pampeluna  besieged  by  the  French,  in 
the  war  between  Francis  I  and  Charles  V.  After  a  short 
stay  at  Pampeluna  he  was  borne  to  Loyola.      And   there  it 

1  For  historical  records  of  the  composition  of  the  Exercises  and  the 
work  of  St  Ignatius,  see  Monumenta  Historica  Societatis  Jesu,  Madrid, 
1894  and  after.  It  contains  :  the  Scripta  de  S.  Ignatio,  2  vols.,  1904. 
In  the  first  is  the  Spanish  text  of  the  autobiographical  notes  dictated 
by  the  Saint  to  Fr.  Luis  Gonzales  de  Camara  in  1553-1555  (Latin 
translation  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  July  31;  French  translation  of  the 
Spanish  by  Eugene  Thibaut,  entitled  Le  ricit  du  Pilerin,  Louvain, 
1922)  ;  Epistolae  P.  P.  Paschasii  Bro'iti,  Claudii  Jaji  (disciples  of  St 
Ignatius),  1903;  Monumenta  Xaveriana,  1899-1913  ;  S.  Francisci  Xav. 
epistolae,  1904-1918;  Monumenta  Fabri  (Le  Fevre,  St  Ignatius' 
disciple),  1914 ;  /.  Nadal,  efistolae,  1898-1905;  Polanco  (the  Saint's 
secretary),  Chronicon  Societatis  ]esu,  1894-1898;  S.  Franciscus  de 
Borgia,   1894- 191 1. 

Historians  of  St  Ignatius  :  Ribadeneira,  Vida  del  bienaventurado 
Padre  Ignatio  de  Loyola,  1584;  D.  Bartoli,  Histoire  de  saint  Ignace, 
Paris,  1893;  Henri  Joly,  Saint  Ignace  de  Loyola  (English  Ed.,  Burns 
Oates  and  Washbourne). 

Collection  de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Exercices  de  saint  Ignace,  1906 
and  after.  A.  Brou,  La  spiritualiti  de  saint  Ignace,  Paris,  1914 ;  Les 
Exercices  spirituels  de  saint  Ignace  de  Loyola,  Paris,  1922  ;  Watrigant, 
La  genesedes  Exercices  de  saint  Ignace  (Etudes,  Vols.  LXXI-LXXIII), 
Amiens,  1897;  L.  de  Grandmaison,  Les  Exercices  sfirituels  de  saint 
Ignace  dans  V edition  des  Monumenta  (Recherckes  de  science  religieuse, 
September-December,  1920,  pp.  391  ff.) ;  Dom  Besse,  L'Exercice  de 
Garcia  de  Cisneros  et  les  Exercices  de  saint  Ignace  (Revue  des  questions 
historiques,   Vol.  LXI,  pp.  22  ff.). 

3  Thibaut,  Le  ricit  du  Pilerin,  no.  99,  p.  102.  In  the  Brief  Pastoralis 
officii  of  July  31,  1548,  approving  the  Exercises,  Pope  Paul  III  declares 
that  Ignatius  composed  the  Spiritual  Exercises  according  to  Holy 
Scripture  and  spiritual  experience  (et  vitae  sfiritualis  experimeniis). 

3  Thibaut,  Le  ricit  du  Pilerin,  no.  1,  p.  n, 


Sgnatfan  "  Exercises "  25 

vas,  during  his  convalescence,  that  instead  of  the  romances 
)f  chivalry,  such  as  Amadis  de  Gaul,  which  could  not  be 
>btained,  the  Life  of  Jesus  Christ  by  Ludolph  the  Carthusian 
md  the  Flower  of  the  Saints  by  Jacobus  de  Voragine  were 
>ut  into  his  hands.  These  two  books  had  been  translated 
nto  Spanish.1  St  Ignatius  gathered  inspiration  from  them 
n  composing  his  Exercises. 

In  fact,  Ignatius  was  deeply  impressed  by  such  pious 
eading.  From  it  he  obtained  the  desire  to  do,  himself 
.lso,  great  things  for  God.  "  St  Dominic  did  thus,"  he  would 
ay,  "and  I,  too,  ought  to  do  so;  St  Francis  did  that,  and 
herefore  I,  too,  will  do  it."2  Just  play  of  imagination  at 
irst  rather  than  operative  desire,  for  very  soon  his  mind 
lew  back  to  vain  fancies,  to  the  worldly  reveries  in  which  it 
labitually  delighted.  Long  was  his  mind  disturbed  by  this 
ilternating  flow  of  thought  after  thought,  sometimes  about 
}od,  sometimes  of  the  vanities  of  this  world.  Later  on, 
vhen  he  had  gained  experience  in  things  spiritual,  he  saw  in 
ill  this  the  action  of  different  spirits  ;  the  spirit  of  God  which 
Irew  him  to  the  good,  and  the  spirit  of  Satan  desiring  to 
:eep  him  in  the  world. 

However,  his  spiritual  reading  enlightened  him  fully  as 
o  the  nothingness  of  creatures.  He  finally  decided  to  serve 
}od  and  planned,  as  soon  as  he  was  well,  to  make  a  pilgrim- 
ige  to  Jerusalem  and  to  practise  austerities.  As  his  holy 
lesires  increased,  his  worldly  fancies  became  less  and  less 
requent  and  at  last  completely  disappeared.  His  conversion 
vas  fortified  bv  a  vision  of  the  Mother  of  God  with  the 
loly  Child,  which  left  behind  a  deep  disgust  for  his  past 
ife  and  an  entire  pacification  of  the  senses  which  nothing 
ould  henceforth  disturb.  While  waiting  for  his  health  to 
:nable  him  to  carry  out  his  plans,  Ignatius  confirmed  him- 
;elf  in  his  good  resolutions  by  reading  the  lives  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Saints,  from  which  he  culled  and  copied  many 
:xtracts.3 

At  the  close  of  his  life  Ignatius  declared  to  Fr.  Gonzales 
hat  the  part  of  the  Exercises  which  deals  with  elections  was 
aken  from  "  the  diversity  of  mind  and  of  idea  which  he 
lad  at  Loyola  when  he  was  still  suffering  with  his  leg."4 
jreat  in  meditation  and  profound  in  his  knowledge  of 
>sychology,  the  writer  of  the  Exercises  was  able  to  analyze 
he  various  spiritual  states  he  experienced  at  the  time  of  his 
:onversion,  and  to  deduce  from  his  own  religious  experi- 
:nces  principles  for  the  guidance  of  those  who  follow  the 
same  path.  God  and  Satan  contend  for  the  soul  who  turns 
iway  from  the  world.  Ignatius  learnt  the  way  in  which 
;ach  of  them  works  :  the  thoughts  inspired  by  God  leave  the 

1  id.,  Le  recit  du  Pilerin,  no.  2-5,  pp.  12-14.        2  id.,  no.  7. 

*   id.,  8-12.  "  id.,  no.  99,  p.  102. 


26  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

soul  in  joy  and  peace ;  those  that  proceed  from  the  devil 
please  us  at  the  outset,  and  are  followed  by  uneasiness  and 
discontent. 

But  all  these  conceptions  were  very  confused  when  Ignatius 
recovered  and  left  Loyola.  "  His  soul  was  still  blind,"  he 
says,  having  little  beyond  "a  great  desire  to  serve  God."1 
He  lacked  spiritual  knowledge.  He  was  going  to  acquire 
it  at  Montserrat  and  at  Manresa. 


It  was  towards  the  middle  of  March,  1522,  that  Ignatius 
came  to  Montserrat,  where  rose  not  only  the  Benedictine 
abbey,  but  the  church  in  which  was  the  venerated  image 
of  our  Lady.  He  made  a  general  confession  to  the  Bene- 
dictine Dom  Chanones  (11569),  who  was  his  "director  and 
first  spiritual  father."2  Ignatius  made  but  a  short  stay  at 
Montserrat.  On  the  vigil  of  the  Annunciation  he  made  a 
watch  in  arms  all  night  before  the  Madonna.  Next  morning 
he  went  to  Manresa,  a  neighbouring  town.  He  returned 
from  time  to  time  to  Montserrat  to  converse  with  Dom 
Chanones.3 

According  to  the  custom  of  his  monastery  Dom  Chanones 
gave  Ignatius  the  Exercises  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros  and  made 
him  follow  the  meditations.  We  know  that  the  Benedictines 
of  Montserrat  used  the  doctrine  and  method  contained  in 
this  book  in  directing  the  pilgrims  who  came  to  practise 
their  devotions  in  the  sanctuary  of  our  Lady.  It  would  be 
astonishing,  indeed,  if  any  exception  were  made  when 
Ignatius  presented  himself  to  Dom  Chanones. 

Moreover,  Ribadeneira  (fi6n),  one  of  the  first  companions 
of  St  Ignatius  and  his  historian,  recognizes  as  "  very  prob- 
able '  the  tradition  handed  down  at  Montserrat,  to  wit: 
that  the  "  B.  P.  Ignatius  at  Montserrat  came  to  know  the 
Exercitatorium  of  Fr.  Garcia  de  Cisneros  and  that  he 
followed  it  in  his  prayer  and  meditation.  Fr.  John  Chanones 
taught  and  instructed  him  in  some  of  the  things  con- 
tained in  the  Exercitatorium." *  Fr.  Watrigant,  who  made 
a  thorough  study  of  the  origin  of  the  Exercises  of  St 
Ignatius,  is  "convinced  that  the  saint  had  had  the  work  of 

1  Le  ricit  du  Pilerin,  no.  14. 

3  Ribadeneira,   Vida  del  B.  P.  1  gnacio  de  Loyola,  Book  IV,  chap.  iv. 

3  Antony  de  Yepez,  Cronica  general  de  la  orden  de  San  Benito,  Valla- 
dolid,  1613,  Vol.  IV,  p.  237  ;  Bartoli,  Histoire  de  saint  1  gnace  de  Loyola, 
Terrien's  translation,  Vol.  I,  p.  57. 

*  Ribadeneira's  letter  to  Antony  de  Yepez,  a  Benedictine  of  Vallado- 
lid,  on  the  Montserrat  tradition  in  Cronica  general  de  la  orden  de 
San  Benito,  by  Yepez,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  237,  238.  Dom  Besse  gives  a  trans- 
lation of  th^  letter  in  the  Revue  des  questions  historiques,  Vol.  LXI 
(1897),  pp.  35-38.  The  Montserrat  tradition  is  also  noted  in  Pom 
Thevard's  translation  of  Cisneros,  Paris,  1655. 


Sgnatfan  "  Exercises "  27 

de  Cisneros  in  his  hands."1  Hence,  we  may  infer  without 
rashness  that  Ignatius  was  acquainted  with  the  Ejercita- 
torio  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros  and  even  that  "  he  used  it  for 
his  own  spiritual  life."2 

To  what  extent  was  he  helped  by  it  in  composing  his 
Spiritual  Exercises? 

It  is  hard  to  understand  how  the  word  plagiarism  came 
to  be  applied  to  this  matter,  as  if  St  Ignatius  had  done  no 
more  than  appropriate  the  work  of  the  Abbot  of  Montserrat. 
Only  partisanship  or  inadvertence  can  have  given  rise  to 
such  an  hypothesis,  which  the  simple  reading  of  the  two 
works  is  enough  to  demolish.3  Hence,  there  is  no  point  in 
proving  its  fallacy.  St  Ignatius's  work  is  conspicuously 
original  and,  from  that  point  of  view,  superior  to  that  of 
Garcia  de  Cisneros. 

At  the  other  extreme  we  find  those  who  regard  the  in- 
fluence of  Cisneros  upon  St  Ignatius  as  altogether  or  almost 
nil ;  for,  say  they,  there  is  not  a  single  word  for  word 
quotation  from  the  Ejercitatorio  in  the  Exercises.  As  for 
similarities,  they  are  confined  to  seven  or  eight  passages, 
and  even  these  do  not  amount  to  the  proof  of  any  literary 
dependence.  Such  is  the  point  of  view,  indeed,  of  the 
editors  of  the  Monumenta  historica  Societatis  Jesu.* 

But  the  influence  of  a  book  does  not  depend  solely  upon 
its  borrowings  or  quotations.  All  admit — as  does  St  Ignatius 
himself — that  The  Imitation  of  Christ  was  made  use  of  in 
the  composition  of  the  Exercises,  and  nevertheless  not  a 
single  quotation  from  it  is  found  in  them.5  Let  us  grant — 
though  this  is  far  from  sure6 — that  not  a  single  passage 
from  the  work  of  Cisneros  can  be  found  in  any  shape  what- 
ever in  the  Exercises,  yet  the  latter  may  owe  something  to 
the  Abbot  of  Montserrat. 

"  What  strikes  one  most  at  first  sight,"  says  Fr.  Watri- 
gant,   "  is  the  general   design  of  the  two  writers  :   both  of 

1  La  genese  des  Exercices  {Etudes,  LXXI,  p.  529).  Henri  Joly, 
S  Ignace  de  Loyola,  p.  46. 

2  Dom  Besse,  loc.  cit.,  p.  38. 

3  See  also  Acta  S.  S.,  July  31;  Cf.  Dom  Besse,  loc.  cit.,  p.  45; 
Watrigant,  La  genese  des  Exercices  (Etudes,  LXXII,  pp.  204-209). 

*  Series  II,  torn.  I,  Exercitia  s-piritualia  S  I gnatii  et  eorum 
Directoria,  Proleg.,  pp.  94-123.  Cf.  P.  Codina,  Razon  y  Ft,  July, 
August,  September,  1917;  Los  Ejercicios  de  san  1  gnacio  y  el  Ejercita- 
torio de  Cisneros.  See  Fr.  Watrigant's  reservations  with  regard  to  the 
too  pronounced  opinion  of  Fr.  Codina,  Bibliotheque  des  Exercices, 
no.  59  (1919),  pp.  65  ff. 

*  Cf.  V.  Mercier,  Concordance  de  VImitation  de  Jisus-Christ  et  des 
Exercices,  Paris,  1885. 

*  See  Dom  Besse,  Revue  des  questions  historiques,  pp.  40-44  and 
Watrigant,  Genese  des  Exercices  [Etudes,  LXXII,  p.  200),  for  re- 
semblances between  the  two  works. 


28  Christian  Spirituality 

them,  in  fact,  wanted  to  provide  a  method  to  lead  souls  to 
God  by  means  of  set  exercises. "  In  both  cases  we  find  a 
series  of  meditations  to  be  made  daily  at  fixed  times  on 
subjects — several  of  which  are  the  same — chosen  before- 
hand in  order  to  secure  a  definite  and  progressive  spiritual 
result  :  purification  of  soul  and  ascent  in  the  Christian  life. 
Finally,  in  both  cases,  we  find  the  systematization  of  the 
spiritual  life  and  of  the  exercises  meant  to  develop  it,  especi- 
ally of  meditation.  But  Ignatius  could  not  have  found  this 
notion  of  systematization  anywhere  else  than  in  the  Ejerci- 
tatorio  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  just  as  Garcia  had  found  it, 
as  Fr.  Watrigant  clearly  proves,1  in  the  works  of  writers 
who  had  gone  before  him,  particularly  in  those  of  the 
religious  of  Windesheim.  Through  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  St 
Ignatius  took  advantage  of  all  the  progress  made  during 
fifteen  centuries  in  the  viethodizafion  of  the  exercises  of 
devotion.  It  was  from  Cisneros  that  he  gained  the  "  idea 
of  a  methodical  course  of  spirituality  following  the  classical 
order  of  the  three  ways."  But  he  realized  the  idea  on  his 
own  account  and  in  a  conspicuously  original  manner. 

The  history  of  the  composition  of  the  Exercises  confirms 
this  view.  The  first  draft  of  the  Exercises  was  finished 
in  1526,  when  Ignatius  gave  them  at  Alcala.  Next  year, 
at  Salamanca,  he  had  to  submit  "  all  his  papers,  which 
were  the  Exercises,"  to  the  knight  bachelor  Frias,  who  was 
commissioned  to  examine  them.  On  February  2,  1528, 
Ignatius  arrived  in  Paris  and  immediately  gave  the  Exercises 
to  many.2  Hence,  the  writing-  of  the  Exercises  must  be 
dated  between  1521,  the  year  of  his  conversion,  and  1526. 
Subsequently  the  work  "  was  modified  in  a  few  details  and 
completed  in  some  points  of  secondary  importance";3  its 
essential  parts  were  unaltered. 

Now,  in  1526,  Ignatius  had  scarcely  begun  his  university 
course:  he  "had  but  the  rudiments  of  learning."  How 
could  he  have  contrived  the  Exercises  as  they  are  had  he 
not  then  known  the  work  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros?4     Neither 

1  Quelques  fromoteurs  de  la  miditation  methodique  au  XV e  siecle 
(C.B.E.,  no.  59). 

2  Ricit  du  Pelerin,  nos.  57,  67,  73,  77. 

3  L.  de  Grandmaison,  Recherches  de  science  religieuse  (1920),  p.  394. 
These  conclusions,  advanced  by  the  editors  of  the  Momtmenta  {Exercitia, 
pp.  30-35),  arise  from  the  testimony  of  St  Ignatius  and  his  contem- 
poraries. Fr.  Watrigant  appears  to  set  the  drawing  up  of  the 
Exercises  farther  back  :  "  St  Ignatius  did  not  finish,  if  one  may  say,  the 
draft  of  his  Exercises  before  the  period  of  his  stay  at  Alcala:  and 
probablv  the  term  should  be  put  back  a  few  vears'  more  "  [Etudes 
LXXII,"p.  211). 

4  "If  the  Exercises,  as  we  now  have  them,  had  been  written  out  in 
full  at  Manresa  itself,  St  Ignatius  would  very  probablv  have  been  un- 
able to  consult  any  other  master  of  spirituality  than  the  Abbot  of  Mont- 
serrat."     Watrigant,  La  genese  des  Exercices  {Etudes,  ibid.,  p.  210). 


■Jgnatian  "  Ejcrciscs "  29 

Ludolph  the  Carthusian's  Life  of  Christ,  nor  Jacobus  de 
Voragine's  Golden  Legend,  nor  even  The  Imitation  of  Christ, 
read  in  Castilian  at  Manresa,1  could  have  really  guided  him. 
These  works  supplied  him  with  certain  ideas  in  the  Exercises, 
but  did  not  show  him  how  to  arrange  them.  The  spiritual 
experiences  of  St  Ignatius  at  the  period  of  his  conversion, 
however  suggestive  they  may  have  been,  could  not  have 
inspired  him  with  the  idea  of  an  organic  system  of  asceticism 
as  definite  and  entire  as  that  of  the  Exercises. 

Was  the  knowledge  of  Ignatius  supernatural,  and  must 
we  seek  a  solution  of  the  problem  in  enlightenment  directly 
communicated  to  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost?  Here  is  what 
Fr.   Gonzales  has  to  tell  us  about  it  : 

"  One  day  he  [Ignatius]  was  going  out  of  devotion  to  a 
certain  church,  about  a  mile  from  Manresa,  and  I  think  it 
was  St  Paul's.  The  road  runs  by  the  river.  Engaged  in 
his  devotions,  he  sat  for  awhile  with  his  face  towards  the 
river  flowing  beneath  him.  As  he  was  sitting  there,  the 
eyes  of  his  mind  began  to  open  ;  it  was  not  a  vision,  but  he 
understood  and  knew  many  things,  things  of  the  spirit  as 
well  as  those  of  faith  and  knowledge ;  and  all  that  in  so 
clear  a  light  that  they  all  appeared  to  him  something 
altogether  new.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  explain  the  particular 
points  which  he  then  understood,  though  they  were  many 
in  number ;  but  only  that  he  received  a  great  illumination  of 
his  understanding;  so  that  when  he  recollects  all  the  helps 
he  has  received  from  God,  and  all  the  things  he  has 
learnt  during  the  whole  of  his  life  until  the  age  of  sixty-two, 
and  gathers  them  together  into  one,  it  does  not  appear  to 
him  to  ^cme  up  to  what  he  received  in  that  one  instance."2 

Are  we  to  infer  from  this  that  not  only  was  Ignatius 
supernaturally  enlightened  as  to  the  truths  of  the  faith,  and 
as  to  the  spiritual  life,  but  also  that  the  detailed  plan  of  the 
Exercises  was  revealed  to  him?  Must  we  not  rather  say 
that  the  work  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros  was  the  means  used  by 
Providence  to  disclose  to  him  a  method  of  asceticism — the 
outcome  of  a  long  development — perfectly  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  his  day? 

Thanks  to  his  divinely  enlightened  personal  experience, 
enriched  with  reading,  Ignatius  was  able  to  turn  that  method 
to  account  in  a  way  amounting  to  genius.3 

1  We  know  that  Ignatius  used  these  three  works  in  the  composition 
of  his  Exercises.  The  Castilian  translation  of  the  Imitation  of  Christ 
was  attributed  in  Spain  to  Gerson. 

2  Thibaut,  Le  recit  du  Pelerin,  no.  30,  pp.  35,  36. 

3  I  note  here,  by  way  of  memorandum,  the  improbable  opinion  of 
unbelieving  critics  who  like  to  think  that  St  Ignatius  derived  his 
Exercises  from  the  rules  of  Mussulman  religious.  Cf.  Hermann  Muller 
(a  pseudonym),  Les  origines  de  la  Comfagnie   de  Jesus,  Paris,  1S98. 


30  Cbrtsttan  Spirituality 

II— ANALYSIS    AND    EXPLANATION    OF    THE 
"  EXERCISES  " 

Like  Garcia  de  Cisneros,  St  Ignatius  divided  his  Exercises 
into  four  weeks,  but  the  subjects  for  meditation  are  differently 
distributed. 

In  both  works,  the  aim  of  the  First  Week  is  spiritual  puri- 
fication. But  whilst  the  Abbot  of  Montserrat's  Ejercitatorio 
confines  contemplation  of  the  life  and  passion  of  Christ 
especially  to  the  last  week,  the  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius 
assign  the  Second  Week  to  meditation  upon  our  Lord's  Life 
up  to  and  including  Palm  Sunday,  the  Third  Week  to  the 
Passion,  and  the  fourth  to  the  Resurrection  and  Ascension. 
The  theory  of  the  three  ways  is  latent  rather  than  patent 
in  the  Spiritual  Exercises;1  it  does  not  make  their  frame- 
work as  in  the  Ejercitatorio. 

The  Spiritual  Exercises  open  with  twenty  annotations,  the 
result  of  St  Ignatius'  experience,  and  these  make  a  kind  of 
Introduction.  The  first  gives  a  definite  explanation  of  the 
Exercises  and  sets  down  their  aim.  The  word  "  Exercise  " 
designates  "  any  way  of  examining  one's  conscience,  medi- 
tating, contemplating,  praying  vocally  and  mentally,  and 
other  spiritual  operations,  as  shall  afterwards  be  told;  be- 
cause as  walking,  going,  and  running  are  bodily  exercises, 
in  like  manner  all  methods  of  preparing  the  soul  to  remove 
from  herself  all  disorderly  attachments,  and,  after  their  re- 
moval, to  seek  and  find  the  divine  will  in  the  laying  out  of 
one's  life  to  the  salvation  of  one's  soul,  are  called  Spiritual 
Exercises."  We  must  bear  in  mind  t1  t  thf  rst  aim  of 
the  Exercises  is  to  help  the  retreatant  to  purify  his  soul  in 
order  to  discern  his  vocation  and  to  follow  it  with  generosity. 

The  other  annotations  contain  general  counsels  meant  for 
those  who  are  giving  or  receiving  the  Exercises;  for 
Ignatius  always  assumes  that  the  exercitant  is  under  the 
guidance  of  a  director. 

A  certain  amount  of  initiative  is  to  be  left  to  the  retreatant 
in  the  meditation  or  contemplation  of  the  subjects  proposed. 
He  should  be  filled  with  a  greater  sense  of  respect  in  those 
parts  of  the  Exercises  which  induce  prayer  than  in  those 
which  lead  to  simple  reflection  (II-III). 

The  Exercises  last  four  weeks  or  about  thirty  days.  But 
each  week  is  not  necessarily  made  up  of  seven  or  eight  days. 
The  week  must  be  sometimes  curtailed  or  prolonged,  accord- 

1  Cf.  the  tenth  annotation  :  "  The  enemy  of  human  nature  usually 
tempts  a  man  more  under  the  appearance  of  good  when  he  is  exercising 
himself  in  the  illuminative  life,  corresponding  to  the  Exercises  of  the 
Second  Week,  and  not  so  much  in  the  purgative  life,  corresponding  to 
the  Exercises  of  the  First  Week."  Fr.  Rickaby,  The  Spiritual  Exercises 
of  St  Ignatius,  p.  7. 


$0ftatfan  "  Bserctses "  31 

ing  to  one's  quicker  or  slower  acquisition  of  the  effect 
sought.  It  is  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  exercises 
to  enter  upon  them  with  all  one's  heart.  He  who  is  giving 
them  must  make  sure  that  the  retreatant  is  carrying  them 
out  at  the  set  times  and  as  they  ought  to  be  done  (IV-VI). 

The  director  must  treat  the  exercitant,  who  is  tried  with 
interior  desolation  and  temptations,  with  kindliness.  He  is 
to  give  him  instructions  about  spiritual  desolation.  He  will 
discover  to  him  the  wiles  of  the  devil,  explaining  to  him  the 
rules  for  the  discernment  of  spirits  in  the  First  Week,  and 
even  in  the  second,  according  to  the  dictates  of  prudence  and 
the  needs  of  him  who  is  making  the  exercises  (VII-X). 

It  is  well  to  follow  the  exercises  of  the  First  Week  without 
trying  to  find  out  those  of  the  Second  Week.  A  whole  hour 
or  more  should  be  given  to  each  of  the  five  exercises  or 
contemplations  day  after  day.  As  a  rule,  the  first  exercise 
will  be  made  at  midnight,  the  second  directly  after  rising, 
the  third  before  or  after  Mass,  the  fourth  at  the  time  of 
Vespers,  the  fifth  before  going  to  bed.1  One  must  be  on 
one's  guard  against  shortening  the  exercises,  a  temptation 
chiefly  arising  during  periods  of  inward  desolation. 

The  director  must  prevent  the  exercitant  from  lightly 
undertaking  any  promise  or  vow  in  the  fervour  of  the 
moment.  He  must  not  try  to  influence  the  retreatant  in 
the  choice  of  any  kind  of  life,  but  wait  for  God  to  show  his 
will.  To  let  the  Creator  work  more  surely  upon  his  soul, 
the  retreatant  will  endeavour  to  desire  no  work  nor  any- 
thing else  except  for  the  glory  of  God.  And,  to  make  sure 
of  the  purity  of  his  intention,  he  will  faithfully  discover  his 
thoughts  to  his  director  (XIV-XVII). 

Lastly,  the  exercises  must  be  adapted  to  the  age,  the 
knowledge,  the  intellectual  capacity,  the  health,  the  end  in 
view  and  to  the  occupations  of  each  individual.  The  most 
appropriate  exercises  are  to  be  chosen  according  to  circum- 
stances. To  those  who  have  plenty  of  time  at  their  disposal 
and  are  sufficiently  educated  all  the  exercises  should  be 
offered,  and  they  should  be  advised  to  withdraw  into  solitude 
apart  from  their  relations  and  friends  (XVIII-XX).2 


St   Ignatius   opens   the   First   Week   with   the   Preface   or 

famous  rule  for  the  interpretation  of  the  thoughts  of  others. 

No  doubt  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  attacks  he  had 

1  First  Week,  Observation,  Jennesseaux,  p.  78;  Debuchy,  p.  61. 

1  St  Ignatius'  Directory  says  :  Locus  Exercitiis  destiyiatus  secretin 
esto,  nee  cum  aliquo  verbo  misceat  exercitans,  si  exactam  Exercitiorum 
normam  sequi  velit. — This  Directory  was  first  published  in  the 
Recherches  de  science  religieuse,  May- September,  1916,  pp.  24S  ff.,  and 
again  brought  out  in  the  Monumenta.     It  has  inspired  most  of  the  rest. 


32  Christian  Spirituality 

to  meet  in  Spain,  about  1527,  when  he  was  giving-  the 
Exercises.  When  he  appeared  before  the  judges  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  they  "  put  him  a  multitude  of  questions 
not  only  on  the  Exercises,  but  also  on  theology."  We  know 
how  they  imprisoned  him  at  Alcala.  As  to  the  Exercises, 
"  they  dwelt  much  on  a  single  point  which  was  at  the  begin- 
ning— viz.,  When  a  thought  is  a  venial,  and  when  it  is  a 
mortal  sin.  And  this  they  did  because,  though  he  was  not 
learned,  he  decided  the  question.  And  he  made  answer  : 
1  Whether  it  is  the  truth  or  not,  you  must  decide  ;  and  if  it 
is  not  the  truth,  condemn  it.'  And  at  last  they,  without 
condemning  anything,  went  away."1 

Perhaps  Ignatius  met  with  prejudiced  exercitants  who 
were  much  readier  to  blame  his  teaching  than  to  be  edified 
by  it.  In  Paris  he  must  have  had  discussions  with  followers 
of  Erasmus  and  Luther  whom  he  endeavoured  to  bring  back 
to  the  truth.  These  circumstances  compelled  him  to  formu- 
late the  Golden  Rule  which  to-day  would  seem  to  us  super- 
fluous at  the  beginning  of  a  retreat  : 

"In  order  that  both  he  who  gives  and  he  who  receives 
the  Spiritual  Exercises  may  derive  greater  help  and  profit 
from  them,  it  must  be  presupposed  that  every  good  Christian 
should  be  readier  to  excuse  than  to  condemn  a  proposition 
advanced  by  his  neighbour;  and  if  he  cannot  justifv  it, 
let  him  inquire  into  the  meaning  of  the  author  :  if  the  latter 
be  in  error,  correct  him  lovingly ;  should  that  not  suffice, 
then  let  him  employ  every  suitable  means,  so  that  his 
neighbour,  rightly  understanding  it,  may  be  saved  from 
error." 

Before  beginning  the  first  exercises  with  the  retreatant, 
Ignatius  reminds  him  of  the  end  in  view  :  "  To  overcome 
oneself  and  regulate  one's  life  without  being  swayed  by  any 
inordinate  attachment." 

The  election  or  choice  of  a  state  of  life  according  to  the 
divine  purpose  is  the  end  to  which  everything  in  the  Exercises 
is  subordinated,  the  central  point  towards  which  everything 
converges  :  "  The  Spiritual  Exercises  keep  in  view  above  all 
a  concrete  and  clearly  determined  case  :  their  aim  is  to  put 
a  man — i.e.,  one  who  is  at  liberty  to  choose  his  own  career 
and  well  equipped  for  the  apostolate,  in  the  position  of  being 
able  to  discern  clearly  and  to  follow  God's  call."2  At  the 
outset  such  a  concrete  case  was  that  of  Ignatius  himself. 
The  Exercises  made  him  an  apostle  as  they  made  Francis 
Xavier  the  most  zealous  of  missionaries. 

Wonderful  as  a  method  of  winning  recruits  for  the  aposto- 

1  Thibaut,  Le  ricit  du  P  Her  in,  no.  68,  p.  72.      Note  in  Ignatius'  replies 
to  the  Inquisitors  a  certain  amount  of  impatience  with  their  cavillings. 

2  L.   de   Grandmaison,   Recherches  de  science  religieuse,   September- 
December,  1920,  p.  400. 


jQiiatian  "  Exercises  "  33 

late,  the  Exercises  are  also  a  method  for  the  restoration  of  the 
spiritual  life,  and  they  are  therefore  adapted  to  many  of  the 
faithful.  Ignatius  tells  us  that  he  used  to  give  the  Exercises 
to  those  who  came  to  see  him  in  prison  at  Alcala. l  Among 
them  many,  no  doubt,  had  already  decided  upon  their  voca- 
tion ;  for  a  man's  election  may  not  only  determine  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  but  it  may  simply  aim  at  the  reformation 
of  some  important  point  in  his  spiritual  life.  This  is  the 
election  of  amendment  so  much  appreciated  by  Mgr.  d'Hulst.2 

From  this  point  of  view,  however,  the  Exercises  are  less 
easily  explained.  They  are  no  longer  to  the  same  degree  the 
kind  of  drama  in  which  we  behold  a  "  probable  candidate  for 
missionary  work  "  freeing  himself  from  unruly  passions  with 
energetic  penances ;  contended  for  by  God  and  Satan,  trying 
with  the  help  of  an  enlightened  counsellor  to  distinguish, 
amidst  conflicting  inward  attractions,  those  emanating  from 
the  spirit  of  grace  from  those  of  the  spirit  of  evil,  and  finally 
determining  to  devote  his  life  to  the  service  of  God  and 
strengthening  himself  in  that  determination  by  contemplating 
the  mysteries  of  the  life  of  Christ. 

To  such  a  prospective  missioner  Ignatius  proposes  first  of 
all  the  principle  which  is  to  guide  him  in  the  discovery  of  his 
way,  the  foundation  upon  which  he  will  base  the  whole  of  his 
spiritual  building,  the  final  goal  of  man.3  Man  was  created 
for  God,  to  serve  him  and  thereby  to  save  his  soul.  Every- 
thing that  is  in  the  world  was  created  to  help  man  to  secure 
his  salvation.  Man's  duty  is  to  make  use  of  it  or  to  let  it 
alone  in  so  far  as  it  is  profitable  or  unprofitable  for  that  end. 
The  exercitant  is  consequently  at  once  invited  to  take  up  an 
attitude  of  indifference  towards  created  things,  and  to  desire 
only  whatever  will  best  lead  him  to  the  fulfilment  of  his 
destiny. 

In  his  fundamental  meditation  Ignatius  makes  an  allusion 
to  the  notion  which  dominated  his  whole  life  :  Ad  major  em 
Dei  gloriam.  Both  in  the  Exercises  and  in  his  Constitu- 
tions, 4  and  above  all  in  his  correspondence,  he  constantly 
speaks  of  the  service  and  the  glory  of  God.5  Habitual  direc- 
tion of  thought  and  act  towards  the  greater  glory  of  God  is 
a  well-known  characteristic  of  the  Ignatian  spirituality. 

1  Le  recit  du  Pelerin,  no.  60. 

2  Baudrillart,  Vie  de  Mgr.  d'Hulst,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  555. 

3  Cf.  Watrigant,  La  meditation  fondamentale  avant  saint  lenace 
(C.B.E.,  no.  9). 

4  Constitutiones  Societatis  Jesu  latine  et  hispanice  cum  earum  de- 
clarationibus,  Matriti,   1892. 

'  "  It  is  reckoned  that  in  his  Constitutions  alone  St  Ignatius  refers 
259  times  to  the  greater  glory  of  God — i.e.,  nearly  once  on  every  page  " 
(A.  Brou,  La  spirituality  de  saint  Ignace,  p.  10).  Cf.  F.  Cavalier,  La 
spirituality  des  Exercices,  in  the  Revue  d'ascitique  et  de  mystique, 
October,  1922,  pp.  357  ff. 

III.  3 


34  Christian  Spirituality 

The  exercitant  under  the  guidance  of  Ignatius  is  regarded 
as  knowing  nothing  of  ascetic  training.  He  needs  instruction 
as  to  how  to  examine  into  his  own  thoughts,  words,  and 
deeds,  to  distinguish  his  serious  sins  from  those  which  are 
venial,  and  to  prepare  for  the  general  confession  which  is  to 
precede  his  communion  at  the  end  of  his  First  Week.1  He 
is  given  models  for  self-examination.  And  he  is  to  do  five 
exercises  or  meditations  every  day  in  order  to  feel  deep  con- 
trition for  his  sins.  The  first  meditation  will  be  on  the  fall 
of  the  angels,  the  fall  of  our  first  parents,  and  the  fall  of 
one  cast  into  hell  through  one  single  mortal  sin.  The  second 
will  be  on  the  retreatant's  personal  sins  and  on  the  divine 
attributes,  principally  on  the  mercy  of  God.  Lastly,  the  fifth 
meditation  will  be  on  hell. 

In  the  meditations  for  the  First  Week,  St  Ignatius  gives 
his  celebrated  method  of  prayer  according  to  the  three  powers 
of  the  soul  :  memory,  understanding,  and  will. 

Meditation  is  composed  of  a  preparatory  prayer  asking 
God  "  to  direct  the  intentions,  actions,  and  operations  of  the 
exercitant,"  of  two  preludes,  three  or  five  points  or  parts  of 
the  subject  of  the  meditation,  and  of  a  colloquy  in  which  God 
is  spoken  with  "  as  a  friend  talks  with  his  friend  or  as  a 
servant  does  with  his  master." 

The  first  prelude  is  a  composition,  seeing  the  place.  It 
consists  in  imagining  the  circumstances  in  which  occurred 
the  mystery  in  the  life  of  Christ  or  of  the  Virgin  Mary  which 
it  is  desired  to  contemplate.  When  the  meditation  is  on  an 
abstract  subject,  we  must  make  a  representation  of  that 
which  symbolizes  it  best.  The  second  prelude  is  a  prayer  to 
God  to  beseech  his  grace  in  connection  with  the  subject  set 
before  us.  The  two  preludes  thus  vary  according  to  the 
subject  of  the  meditation. 

The  meditation  rightly  so  called  is  divided  into  several 
points.  In  each  of  these  Ignatius  exercises  the  memory,  the 
understanding,    and   the  will,2   the   three   faculties   so   much 

1  The  Ignatian  Directory  advises  that  this  confession  should  be  made 
to  someone  other  than  the  giver  of  the  Exercises  {Direct.,  I,  5). 

2  This  part  of  the  Ignatian  meditation  varies  and  sometimes  calls 
for  the,  use  of  other  faculties.  According  to  these  variations,  as  many 
as  five  methods  of  prayer  are  to  be  found  in  the  Exercises. — The  first  is 
Meditation  according  to  the  -powers  of  the  soul;  it  is  the  best  known 
and  most  used,  the  one  above  set  forth. — The  second  is  Contemplation, 
which  is  an  ordinary  meditation  on  some  mystery  of  the  life  of  Christ. 
After  the  preludes,  we  "  contemplate  " — i.e.,  we  consider,  without 
exerting  great  effort,  the  persons,  their  utterances  and  acts. — The  third 
is  the  Application  of  the  five  senses  to  the  mystery  on  which  we  are 
meditating.  We  see  the  persons  with  the  eyes  of  the  imagination,  we  hear 
what  they  are  saying,  we  inhale  or  relish  the  sweetness  of  the  medita- 
tion, we  touch  with  spiritual  caresses  the  places  in  which  the  mystery 
occurred. — The  fourth  is  entitled  :   The  second  way  of  praying.     After 


ignatian  "  Ejercises "  35 

spoken  of  by  the  writers  of  the  Middle  Ages.  This  medita- 
tion is  a  kind  of  moral  strategy.  The  powers  of  the  soul  are 
like  so  many  battalions  held  in  reserve  and  launched  one  after 
another  at  the  right  moment  to  the  capture  of  the  spiritual 
objective  by  assault.  Memory  recalls  facts  and  reasons, 
understanding  intervenes  to  make  its  inferences,  and  the  will 
evokes  feeling  and  carries  away  the  soul  to  the  end  desired. * 

This  method  sets  in  relief  the  part  played  by  man  in  the 
work  of  his  conversion  and  moral  reformation ;  it  stimulates 
personal  effort.  No  doubt  it  does  not  disregard  God's  part 
since  it  both  begins  and  ends  with  prayer  for  grace ;  never- 
theless, it  is  mainly  directed  towards  action.  It  explains 
Ignatian  spirituality,  which  is  above  all  an  excitant  of  energy. 
The  Christian  who  sets  to  work  upon  himself  with  meditation 
and  the  particular  examen  is  as  duly  conscious  of  his  own 
endeavour  as  if  his  spiritual  training  depended  solely  upon 
himself.  Ignatian  meditation  is  "  essentially  active,  prac- 
tical, conquering  virtues.  In  a  certain  sense  it  is  Martha 
rather  than  Mary,  or  rather  it  is  an  effective  sort  of  con- 
templation for  acquiring  the  possession  of  goodness.  It  is 
active  because  it  attains  such  virtues,  not  only  by  praying 
for  them,  but  by  making  the  appropriate  acts."2  The  re- 
treatant  is  sanctified  as  much  by  acts  of  the  will  as  by  prayer. 
The  expression,  "  I  will  it,  id  quod  volo,"  recurs  throughout 
the  Exercises,  which  are  quite  truly  a  school  of  will-power 
and  energy. 

To  meditation,  which  fires  the  soul  to  seek  goodness, 
Ignatius  adds  self-examination  to  verify  its  progress.  Nothing 
in  the  spiritual  life  must  be  left  to  whim  or  to  chance.  How 
can  self-knowledge  be  attained  without  self-examination? 
And  is  not  self-knowledge  indispensable  to  the  interior  life? 
Ignatius  regards  the  particular  examen  as  being  as  funda- 
mental an  exercise  as  meditation. 

This  particular  examen,  which  is  not   found   in   Garcia  de 


the  usual  preparation  we  stop  at  each  word  of  a  prayer,  such  as  the 
Pater  noster,  as  long  as  we  find  relish  or  good  in  doing  so,  and  this 
is  done  all  through  the  prayer. — The  fifth  method,  or  Third  way  of 
■praying,  consists  in  considering  for  the  space  of  a  single  breathing 
each  of  the  words  of  some  vocal  prayer  while  we  are  saying  it.  Cf. 
Fourth  Week,  the  Three  ways  of  fraying.  P.  de  Maumigny  explains 
these  various  methods  in  his  Pratique  de  Voraison  mentale,  12th  ed., 
Paris,  1916,  I,  pp.  320  ff. 

1  In  the  five  first  annotations  which  end  the  First  Week,  St  Ignatius 
adds  a  few  counsels  for  securing  the  fruitfulness  of  the  meditations  : 
before  going  to  sleep  at  night,  review  the  subject  of  the  meditation  ; 
think  of  it  on  awaking  ;  after  the  meditation  is  over,  note  whether  it 
has  been  well  or  faultily  made. 

2  Achille  Gagliardi  (fi6o7),  De  plena  cognitione  Instituti  Societatis 
Jesu,  Bruges,  1882,  pp.  98-99;  A.  Brou,  La  Spirituality  de  saint  Ignace, 
pp.  29-30;  Watrigant,  Des  methodes  d'oraison  dans  notre  vie  aposto- 
lique,  C.B.E.,  nos.  15-47  (1913). 


36  Christian  Spirituality 

Cisneros'  Ejercitatorio,  is  far  from  being-  the  same  as  the 
general  examen  prior  to  confession.  Its  purpose  is  to  free 
a  man  from  a  besetting  sin  or  from  a  dominant  defect.  This 
examen  is  made  twice  a  day,  after  dinner  and  after  supper. 
Every  time  a  man's  failures  must  be  written  down,  and  days 
and  weeks  are  to  be  compared  with  one  another  to  verify 
the  progress  attained.  From  the  beginning  the  particular 
examen  is  prescribed  for  the  retreatant ;  but  it  is  to  be 
continued  even  by  the  man  who  has  advanced  in  the  Christian 
life.1 

The  Second  Week  is  "  the  most  original  and  the  most 
urgent  part  "  of  the  Exercises,  "'  which  ends  in  the  election 
of  a  state  of  life."- 

The  exercitant  once  purified  from  his  faults  by  repentance, 
and  having  sufficiently  mastered  his  unruly  tendencies,  is 
rightly  disposed  for  hearing  the  divine  call.  And  this  call  is 
an  invitation  to  enrol  in  the  army  of  Christ. 

For  St  Ignatius  regards  the  apostolate  as  an  order  of 
knighthood.  When  he  betook  himself  to  Montserrat  after 
his  conversion  with  his  mind  full  of  the  romances  of  chivalry, 
he  imagined  Christ  as  a  king  summoning  his  subjects  to  a 
crusade.3  How  ardently  did  he  desire  to  be  one  of  these 
good  knights  ! 

Just  when  the  exercitant  has  to  decide  to  become  one  of 
Christ's  knights  Ignatius  makes  him  meditate  twice  a  day  on 
"  the  call  of  a  temporal  king  "  to  conquer  "  the  whole  world 
of  unbelievers."  If  such  a  call  "  is  calculated  to  strike  our 
minds,  how  much  more  worthy  of  consideration  is  the  sight 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  eternal  King  with  all  the  world 
before  him,  hearing  him  make  his  appeal  to  all  and  to  each 
one  in  particular  and  saying  :  It  is  my  will  to  subdue  the 
whole  world  and  all  my  enemies  and  thus  to  enter  into  my 
Father's  glory.  Let  him  who  will  come  after  me  work  with 
me,  so  that  following  me  in  toil  he  may  follow  me  in  glory." 

But  we  must  know  Christ,  the  eternal  King,  and  what  he 
demands  of  his  soldiers  before  we  enrol  in  his  service. 

1  To  inspire  the  sinner  with  repentance  and  love  so  that  he  may  be 
purified  of  his  sins,  such  is  the  end  of  the  First  Week  of  the  Exercises. 
To  reach  this  point  with  greater  certainty,  Ignatius  suggests  further  a 
few  "  devices  " — e.g.,  to  keep  strict  watch  over  one's  mind,  to  keep 
out  the  light  by  closing  the  doors  and  windows  of  one's  room,  to  avoid 
laughing  and  talking,  and,  if  needed,  to  undertake  certain  outward 
penances  with  prudence,  such  as  limiting  one's  food  and  sleep,  and 
chastising  the  body  with  the  use  of  instruments  of  penance. 

2  L.  de  Grandmaison,  pp.  401-402. 

3  Thibaut,  Recit  du  Pelerin,  17,  pp.  23-24  :  "  He  (Ignatius)  went  on 
his  way  towards  Montserrat,  thinking,  as  was  his  wont,  of  the  great 
deeds  he  was  to  perform  for  the  love  of  God.  And,  as  his  mind  was 
full  of  the  exploits  of  Amadis  de  Gaule  and  similar  books,  the  thought 
of  doing  things  of  the  same  kind  occurred  to  him." 


Sgnatfan  "  Exercises  "  37 

To  this  end  the  exercitant  must  contemplate — for  twelve 
days,  if  necessary — the  mysteries  of  the  childhood  and  of  the 
public  life  of  Christ.  He  will  reflect  long-  upon  the  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Word,  the  mvsterv  of  self-humiliation — on  the 
Lord's  Nativity,  the  mystery  of  denudation  and  poverty — on 
the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  and  on  the  episode  of  Jesus  left 
amidst  the  doctors,  mysteries  of  detachment  from  creatures 
— on  the  hidden  life  of  Christ  at  Nazareth,  the  mystery  of 
obedience — on  his  public  life,  the  mystery  of  the  apostolate. 
In  each  contemplation,  not  only  are  the  memory,  the  under- 
standing-, and  the  will  exercised,  but  also  the  five  senses — 
i.e.,  the  entire  soul.  Thus  in  the  Lord's  Nativity  the  exer- 
citant is  to  imagine  that  he  sees  the  chief  characters  con- 
cerned, that  he  hears  their  words,  inhaling  and  relishing 
their  grace  and  sweetness,  touching  and  kissing  their  foot- 
prints. The  exercitant  will  also  feel  that  he  is  growing  in 
the  love  of  Christ,  the  Master  of  the  Apostles,  while  he  is 
learning  the  conditions  of  the  apostolic  life  :  abnegation, 
renunciation  of  honours  and  riches,  and  the  practice  of 
humility. 

But  what  is  more  repugnant  to  a  man  who  was  lately  flat- 
tered by  the  world  than  such  a  life  of  renunciation  and  poverty 
and  humiliation?  Ignatius  knew  it  from  experience.  Day 
after  day,  when  he  was  beginning  to  live  a  life  of  poverty 
and  austerity,  he  was  tormented  by  the  thought  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  his  enterprise  :  "  How  can  you  endure  such  a  life  as 
this  all  the  seventy  years  you  will  have  to  live?"  An  inward 
voice  kept  on  asking  this  question.1 

Ignatius  managed  to  triumph  over  these  temptations  to 
pusillanimity  and  bewilderment — the  chief  trial  of  the  exer- 
citant during  the  period  of  his  election — by  interspersing,  in 
a  disconcerting  way  at  first,  contemplations  on  the  life  of 
Christ,  meditations  intended  to  foil  the  ruses  of  Satan  and 
the  calculations  of  self-interest.  The  meditation  on  the  Two 
Standards  teaches  us  in  a  dramatic  and  quite  military  manner 
the  opposite  tactics  of  the  two  leaders  or  "  captains  "  who  are 
fighting  one  another  for  men  :  Jesus  Christ  and  Lucifer. 
Lucifer  draws  men  to  himself  by  the  love  of  riches,  by  vain- 
glory, and  pride,  and  he  leads  them  to  death.  Jesus  Christ, 
on  the  other  hand,  opposes  riches  with  poverty,  vainglory 
with  opprobrium,  pride  with  humility,  and  leads  men  to  true 
life.  Thus  the  exercitant  is  well  taught  in  "  the  cheats  of 
the  bad  leader  "  and  in  the  requirements  of  Christ.  All  he 
has  to  do  is  to  beseech  our  Lady  to  obtain  from  her  Son  the 
grace  of  being  enrolled  under  his  standard  as  an  apostle,  if 
he  be  pleased  to  do  so. 

And  now  we  come  to  the   revolts  of  selfishness. 

The  retreatant  will  overcome  them  by  stirring  himself  to 

1  Recit  du  Pelerin,  no.  20,  p.  27. 


38  Christian  Spirituality 

generosity,  and  in  the  first  place  by  the  exercise  of  the  three 
classes  of  men.  A  parable  is  set  before  him.  Three  classes 
of  men  there  are  who  each  of  them  possess  "  a  sum  of  ten 
thousand  ducats."  All  of  them  desire,  for  the  sake  of  their 
salvation,  to  get  rid  of  the  attachment  they  feel  for  it.  Those 
belonging  to  the  first  class  would  indeed  like  to  be  detached 
from  it,  but  they  do  nothing  to  the  purpose,  a  mere  fancy; 
those  of  the  second  class  are  disposed  towards  detachment 
from  it,  but  not  to  the  point  of  stripping  themselves  of  its 
possession,  an  unsatisfactory  disposition  ;  those  of  the  third 
class  are  so  far  detached  from  it  as  to  be  stripped  of  it 
altogether  if  God  required  it  of  them  ;  this  is  the  right  dis- 
position, that  of  the  exercitant  who  is  about  to  make  his 
election,  and  he  will  maintain  it  despite  the  natural  repug- 
nance he  may  feel  for  actual  poverty. 

Lastlv,  the  exercise  of  the  three  degrees  of  humility  will 
finish  the  victory  over  the  future  missioner's  last  resistance, 
his  aversion  to  humiliations  and  obloquy.  There  is  a  degree 
of  humilitv  which  is  essential  to  salvation  ;  it  is  that  which 
subjects  us  to  God's  law  when  it  is  binding  upon  us  under 
pain  of  mortal  sin.  In  the  second  degree,  which  is  more 
perfect,  a  man  is  in  a  state  of  complete  indifference  with 
regard  to  riches  and  poverty,  honour  and  contempt,  a  long 
life  or  a  short  one,  provided  that  God  in  all  be  glorified. 
For  nothing  in  the  world  would  he  commit  a  venial  sin.  The 
third  degree  further  requires  us  for  the  most  perfect  imitation 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  prefer,  as  he  did,  poverty  to  riches,  con- 
tumely to  honour.  It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  the 
retreatant  should  approach  this  degree  of  humility  at  the 
time  of  his  election.1 

The  first  condition  for  a  good  election  is  for  the  exercitant 
to  consider  only  the  end  for  which  he  was  created  :  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  salvation  of  his  soul.2  Then  he  will  decide 
in  favour  of  such  and  such  a  state  of  life,  according  to  the 
leadings  of  grace.3  For  what  he  ought  to  choose  is  that  for 
which  God  intends  him. 

God's  will   is  manifested  in  various  ways.4     Sometimes  a 

1  St  Ignatius,  Directory,  III,  i  :  Det  oferam  [qui  dat  Exercitia)  ut 
in  electionibus,  quae  fieri  debent  cum  -plena  voluntatis  resignatione 
et,  si  fossibile  est,  cum  affroximatione  ad.  tertium  gradum  humilifatis, 
ut  exercitans  magis  frofendeat,  si  aequale  Dei  servitium  fore  videretur, 
ad  ea  quae  magis  conformia  sunt  consiliis  et  exemflo   Christ?'. 

2  Exercises.  Second  Week,  Prelude  to  the  Election. 

3  The  Election,  as  St  Ignatius  saw  it,  was  that  of  a  man  who  pledged 
himself  irrevocably  to  the  apostolate.  But  the  Exercises  have  also  in 
view  the  election  of  a  man  already  irrevocably  committed  to  a  state 
of  life  determining  to  be  more  fervent  in  his  vocation.  Lastly,  there 
is  the  variable  election. of  such  a  thing  as  a  benefice,  which  a  man  is 
free  to  accept  or  reject  at  will  [Exercises,  Second  Week,  Matter  of 
Election). 

*   Exercises,  Three  Seasons  favourable  to  the  Election. 


Sditatfan  "  Exercises "  39 

man  is  irresistibly  drawn  to  a  state  of  life,  as  were  St  Paul 
and  St  Matthew.  Fairly  often  he  receives  flashes  of  illumina- 
tion, and  is  disturbed  in  turns  by  consolations  or  desolation 
revealing-  God's  purposes  in  regard  to  himself.  At  last  he 
comes  to  have  no  particular  feeling  at  all.  Then  he  can 
make  his  election  freely  and  quietly  with  the  assistance  of  his 
natural  faculties  and  reflection.1  He  prays  and  examines  the 
pros  and  the  cons,  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of  the 
various  possible  courses.  He  will  ask  himself  how  he  would 
like  to  have  made  his  present  election  had  he  been  at  the 
point  of  death,  and  in  making  his  final  decision  he  will  be 
faithfully  guided  by  this  thought  of  his  last  end. 


When  the  election  has  been  made  the  man  who  has  made 
it  must  be  confirmed  in  his  decision. 

He  will  not  be  slow  to  experience,  like  Ignatius  at 
Manresa,2  great  inward  vicissitudes.  Sometimes  he  will  feel 
much  joy  in  prayer,  sometimes  it  will  fill  him  only  with  dis- 
gust. The  meditations  of  the  Third  Week  on  the  Last 
Supper  and  on  the  Passion  fasten  more  and  more  firmly  to 
Christ  the  man  who  has  just  consecrated  his  life  to  him.  His 
inward  experiences  of  the  spiritual  life  will  increase.  Prayer 
will  grow  more  familiar,  and  he  will  learn  discretion  in  things, 
especially  in  matters  of  mortification.  Finally,  during  the 
Fourth  Week  in  the  contemplation  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
risen  Christ,  he  will  become  more  and  more  closely  united 
with  God  until  he  comes  to  the  habitual  divine  union  of  the 
saints. 

At  the  end  of  the  Exercises  come  the  rules  for  the  discern- 
ment of  spirits,  required  for  the  exercitant  in  the  First3  and 

1  St  Ignatius  proposes  two  exercises,  or  methods,  to  help  reflection. 
In  his  Directory,  III,  6,  he  thus  defines  them  :  Ea  autem  quae  de- 
liberandi! hie  sunt:  i.  consilia  an  fraecefta;  2.  si  consilia,  an  in 
religione,  an  extra  Mam;  3.  si  in  ilia,  in  quali ;  4.  quando  et  quomodo ; 
5.  si  fraecefta,  in  quo  statu  aut  modo  vivendi ;  et  ita  vadat  dis- 
currendo. 

2  Recit  du  Pilerin,  no.  21. 

3  Fourteen  rules  for  the  First  Week. — The  evil  spirit  keeps  the  sinner 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  senses,  the  good  spirit  fills  him  with  remorse. — 
The  devil  tries  to  disturb  the  soul  of  the  converted  sinner,  and  God  fills 
him  with  consolation  and  encouragement. — The  third  rule  describes 
spiritual  consolation  and  spiritual  desolation. — Make  no  change  in  a 
resolution  in  a  time  of  desolation,  as  the  evil  spirit  advises ;  yet  in 
the  time  of  desolation  it  is  good  to  pray  and  to  meditate  more  and  to 
do  more  penances. — Regard  desolation  as  a  trial  permitted  by  God,  to 
teach  us  to  resist  temptation  with  the  help  of  grace. — Be  patient  in 
desolation. — Desolation  may  be  a  punishment  for  our  lukewarmness  and 
negligence.  It  is  a  trial.  It  is  meant  to  teach  us  that  good  feelings 
come  from  God  and  not  from  ourselves. — During  consolation  let  us  think 
of  desolation  which  will  come,  and  take  courage. — During  desolation  let 
us  humble  ourselves,  because  we  can  do  so  little  without  sensible  grace. 


4°  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

Second1  Weeks,  then  the  rules  for  the  distribution  of  alms, 
notes  on  scruples,  and  lastly,  the  famous  rules  for  orthodoxy 
formulated  by  Ignatius  at  Paris  for  dealing-  with  innovators, 
followers  of  Erasmus  and  Luther,  whom  he  met  there. 

The  Spiritual  Exercises  are  not,  strictly  speaking-,  a  com- 
plete manual  of  asceticism.  They  have  a  particular  case  in 
view  :  "  they  deal  with  a  crisis  ...  a  missionary  vocation 
studied,  debated,  and  combated  in  a  soul  splendidly  endowed." 
Ascetic  teaching  is  largely  used  and  explained,  but  only  so 
far  as  is  necessary.  Hence  "in  the  four  famous  Weeks  we 
must  not  look  for  detailed  lessons  on  normal,  peaceable, 
everyday  interior  life."2 

Nor  must  the  work  of  St  Ignatius  be  regarded  as  an  initia- 
tion into  the  mystical  ways.  No  doubt  he  raised  himself  to 
extraordinary  spiritual  states,  and  knew  the  graces  of  super- 
natural prayer;  his  autobiographical  notes  make  this  per- 
fectly clear.3  But  it  is  no  aim  of  his  to  lead  the  exercitant 
to  that  goal.  His  desire  is  to  give  God  one  more  missioner. 
"  It  is  God  who  has  to  decide  whether  his  apostle  is  to  be — 
in  the  technical  sense  of  the  word — a  mystic.  The  author  of 
the  Exercises  sets  aside  the  thought  of  such  possible  calls."4 

Perhaps,  too,  the  false  mysticism  which  swept  over  certain 
parts  of  Spain  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  put 
Ignatius  on  his  guard  against  any  exaggeration  which  might 
lead  to  illuminism,  even  by  crooked  ways.  He  was  always 
very  reserved  as  to  the  mystical  states.  While  appreciating 
them  as  they  deserved,  he  did  not  regard  them  as  being  in 
themselves  signs  of  perfection.  Besides,  it  is  not  in  our  own 
power  to  acquire  them  at  will.  So  he  insisted  on  ascetical 
exercises,  the  practice  of  the  virtues,  mortification,  humility, 
and  obedience.5 

During  consolation  remember  that  we  can  do  much  with  grace. — Firm- 
ness in  temptation  disarms  the  tempter,  but  weakness  makes  him  terrible. 
— The  tempter  demands  secrecy  ;  he  is  powerless  when  we  are  open  and 
sincere  with  our  confessor. — Like  a  captain  who  would  take  a  place 
by  assault,  the  devil  tries  to  find  our  weak  point  for  his  attacks. 

1  Eight  rules  for  the  Second  Week. — The  three  first  for  ascertaining 
whether  spiritual  consolation  comes  from  God  or  from  the  devil. — The 
other  five  reveal  the  ruses  of  the  wicked  angel,  who  sometimes  changes 
himself  into  an  angel  of  light. 

2  L.  de  Grandmaison,  loc.  cit.,  p.  405;  Watrigant,  La  Genese  des 
Exercices  [Etudes,  LXXI,  p.  507). 

3  Cf.  Recti  du  Pilerin,  chaps,  iii,  x. 

4  L.  de  Grandmaison,  p.  406. 

B    See  A.  Brou,  La  spiritualite"  de  saint  Ignace,  pp.  109  ff . 


Sonatfan  "  Exercises  "  41 

III— PRACTICE  OF  THE  EXERCISES  IN  THE  TIME 
OF  ST  IGNATIUS  AND  AFTERWARDS  —  IGNA- 
TIAN  SPIRITUALITY:  REACTION  AGAINST 
THE  PAGAN  RENAISSANCE  AND  PROTESTANT 
QUIETISM;  PROTECTION  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS 
LIVING   IN   THE   WORLD 

As  soon  as  Ignatius  had  finished  the  first  edition  of  the 
Exercises,  he  made  people  go  through  them.  He  gave  them 
at  Alcala,  as  we  know,  in  1526,  and  through  them  many 
people  "  attained  a  knowledge  of  and  a  stronger  relish  for 
spiritual  things."1  In  Paris  during  1528  he  had  them  made 
by  three  retreatants  who  "  made  remarkable  changes  in  their 
lives,"  and  "  soon  gave  all  that  they  had  to  the  poor."2  "  By 
means  of  the  Exercises  "  he  won  for  God  Pierre  le  Fevre  and 
Francis  Xavier.3  The  precious  manual  in  the  hands  of  Igna- 
tius was  an  effective  means  of  gaining  apostles  for  God 
and  companions  for  himself.  The  spiritual  exercises  had 
already  been  made  by  those  who  took  their  vows  with  him 
at  Montmartre  on  August  15,  1534:  Francis  Xavier,  Pierre 
Le  Fevre,  Nicolas  Bobadillo,  James  Laynez,  Alfonso  Sal- 
meron,  and  Simon  Rodriguez. 

The  Exercises  are,  above  all,  a  spiritual  method,  and,  like 
all  methods,  they  must  be  constantly  adapted  to  persons  and 
circumstances  and  milieux.  If,  from  the  time  of  its  com- 
position till  our  own  day,  the  booklet  has  continued  to  be  an 
inestimable  means  of  sanctification,  that  is  because  the  sons 
of  St  Ignatius  have  always  managed  to  adapt  it  to  the  needs 
of  every  age.  Few  suspect  to-day  that  Ignatius  intended  the 
Exercises  primarily  to  be  a  means  of  recruiting  missionaries. 

The  oldest  directories  show  how  the  first  followers  of  Igna- 
tius gave  the  Exercises. 4  The  exercitant  was  isolated  as  far 
as  possible  in  a  solitary  house.  The  director  went  to  see  him 
every  day  to  give  him  advice.  When  the  Society  of  Jesus 
had  colleges  and  houses,  it  was  able  to  receive  the  retreatants 
in  them. 

At  the  outset  Ignatius  and  his  first  disciples  made  each 
person  go  into  retreat  by  himself.  But  this  limited  the 
director's  scope,  for  he  could  only  attend  to  a  small  number 
of  retreatants  at  the  same  time.  Pierre  Le  Fevre  declared 
that  he  could  not  direct  more  than  three  persons  at  once.5 

1  Le  Recti  du  Pelerin,  no.  57,  pp.  59-60. 

2  id.,  no.  77,  p.  79. 

3  id.,  no.  82,  p.  84. 

4  Exercitia  .   .  .  et  eorum  directoria,  pp.   778  ff.     Cf.   A.  Brou,    Les 
Exercices  sfirituels  de  saint  Ignace  de  Loyola,  pp.  50  ff. 

6  Monumenta  Fabri,  78. 


42  Cbrfstiau  Spirituality 

From  1539,  at  Parma,  Le  Fevre  and  Laynez  inaugurated  the 
idea  of  giving  retreats  in  common.1 

As  we  might  expect,  not  all  the  retreatants  used  to  reach 
the  end  of  the  Four  Weeks.  Most  were  satisfied  with  the 
First  Week,  and  made  a  "  retreat  of  conversion."  Neverthe- 
less, a  certain  number — especially  those  who  felt  a  call  to 
mission  work — made  the  "  election,"  and  even  went  to  the 
end  of  the  Exercises.  2 

In  his  Chronicle,  Polanco  remarks  the  happy  results  every- 
where following  upon  the  Exercises.  They  led  to  the  con- 
version of  a  large  number  of  the  clergy.  Louis  de  Blois,  as 
we  know,  used  to  send  his  religious  and  novices  to  the  Jesuits 
of  Louvain  to  be  given  the  Exercises,  and  this  contributed 
effectively  to  the  reformation  of  the  Abbey  of  Liessies.3 

St  Charles  Borromeo  used  them  for  the  reformation  of  his 
clergy.4  In  the  seventeenth  century  St  Vincent  de  Paul,  in 
his  famous  retreats  given  to  the  candidates  for  ordination  at 
Saint-Lazare,  was  inspired  by  the  method  of  the  Exercises.5 
And  in  modern  times  retreats,  according  to  the  Ignatian 
method,  have  become  "  a  normal  and  ordinary  function  of 
the  Christian  life."6  His  Holiness  Benedict  XV,  bv  an  Apos- 
tolic Constitution  of  July  25,  1920,  has  proclaimed  St  Ignatius 
the  patron  of  spiritual  retreats. 


In  the  era  of  its  first  appearance,  Ignatian  spirituality  was 
one  of  the  most  effective  means  for  the  protection  of  Christian 
devotion  against  the  paganism  of  the  Renaissance  and  the 
fatalistic  quietism  of  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

According  to  Ribadeneira,7  St  Ignatius  acted  in  conformity 
with  this  principle  :  "  Let  us  work  as  if  success  depended  on 
ourselves  and  not  on  God.  Let  us  work  with  energy,  but 
with  this  conviction  in  our  hearts  :  that  we  are  doing  nothing, 
that  God  is  doing  evervthing."  This  great  law  of  his  own 
activity  is  also  that  of  his  spirituality. 

1  M onumenta  Fabri,  33. 

2  S  Ignatii  efistolae,  torn.  I,  p.  388;  torn.  II,  p.  253;  Efistolae 
mixtae,  torn.   I,  p.  43. 

3  For  information  as  to  the  history  of  the  practice  of  the  Exercises, 
see  the  Melanges  Watrigant,  C.B.E.,  nos.  61-62,  1920. 

4  Mgr.  Ratti  (Pius  XI),  Saint  Charles  Borromee  et  les  Exercices  de 
saint  Ignace,  C.B.E.,  no.  32. 

5  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  et  les  retraites  jermees,  C.B.E.,  no.  50; 
Watrigant,  Les  Exercices  sfirituels  a  la  naissance  des  Siminaires, 
C.B.E.,  nos.  39-41. 

6  A.  Brou,  Les  Exercices  sfirituels  de  saint  Ignace,  p.  105. 

7  De  ratione  sancti  Ignatii  in  gubernando,  14  (Scrifta  de  sancto 
Ignatio,  p.  466.  Monumenta,  torn.  I).  It  is  the  second  of  these  Sentences 
attributed  to  St  Ignatius  :  Haec  frima  sit  agendorum  regula:  sic  Deo 
fide,  quasi  rtrum  successus  omnis  a  te,  nihil  a  Deo  fenderet,  ita  tamen 
Us  oferam  omnem  admove,  quasi  tu  nihil,  Deus  omnia  solus  sit  facturus. 


Sgnatian  "  Bsercises  "  43 

In  the  work  of  spiritual  sanctification,  there  are  two  parts 
— God's  and  man's.  Ignatius  fixes  his  attention  on  the  first 
to  urge  the  importance  of  prayer  for  the  securing  of  grace — 
God's  part — and  to  call  upon  us  to  glorify  God  for  all  the 
good  we  do  through  him.  He  emphasizes  still  more, 
perhaps,  man's  part — radically  eliminated  by  Luther,  as  we 
shall  see — and  impels  us  to  action,  indeed,  as  if  success 
depended  upon  ourselves  alone.  His  spirituality,  if  the 
anachronism  may  be  allowed,  is  dynamically  molinist;  it 
is  active  and  non-quietist,  combative  and  not  pacifist, 
methodical,  and  not  just-as-you-will. 

What  Ignatius  demands  above  all  is  personal  effort,  the 
active  collaboration  and  the  energetic  work  of  the  exercitant. 
He  will  not  endure  the  retreatant's  passivity,  but  makes  him 
meditate,  contemplate,  and  examine  his  conscience,  and  will 
not  leave  him  to  himself.  He  does  not  wait  for  God  to  work 
in  the  soul,  for  he  is  convinced  that  generous  efforts  on  our 
part  "  often  dispose  us  for  the  reception  of  greater  inward 
illumination  and  heavenly  consolation  and  divine  inspira- 
tion."1 The  more  a  man  does  himself  violence,  the  more  he 
advances  in  goodness,  says  the  writer  of  the  Imitation. 
Ignatius,  too,  wishes  a  man  to  devote  himself  to  the  exercises, 
to  act  against  himself  and  his  own  inclinations,  and  to  change 
and  conquer  himself.2  His  is  a  spirituality  of  effort  wonder- 
fully adapted  to  counter  the  scandalous  Lutheran  quietism 
which  denied  man  power  to  co-operate  in  his  own  salvation, 
and  to  stir  men  out  of  the  laisser-aller  in  which  some  of  the 
humanists  took  refuge  under  the  pretext  of  resistance  to 
man's   passions  being  actually   impossible. 

It  was  also  a  combative  spirituality.  No  doubt  the  spiritual 
combat  is  not  an  invention  of  St  Ignatius,  for  it  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity  :  it  is  an  indispensable  condition 
of  any  serious  spiritual  life.  No  one  has  spoken  of  it  more 
forcibly  than  St  Paul.  Since  his  day,  perhaps,  no  one  has 
understood  it  better  than  St  Ignatius.  His  spirituality  wears 
a  military  aspect.  Christ  is  a  captain  who  calls  us  to  fight 
at  his  side.  To  answer  his  call  is  to  join  his  army.  His 
true  soldiers  "  will  not  only  offer  themselves  up  wholly  to 
the  work,  but  also,  when  taking  the  offensive  against  their 
own  sensuality  and  against  their  carnal  and  worldly  affec- 
tions,  they  will    make   offers    still   more   precious."3      Their 

1  Exercises,  Third  Week,  fourth  rule  of  "  Temperance." 

2  "  Discernment  of  spirits,"  sixth  rule,  etc  :  "  The  Spiritual  Exer- 
cises combine  the  knowledge  of  self  and  the  imitation  of  Christ  into  a 
school  of  energy.  The  representations,  the  feelings,  and  the  virtues 
are  so  many  tendencies  to  action.  The  whole  of  the  interior  life  becomes 
a  combat,  the  results  of  which  have  a  social  value."  Etchegoyen, 
Vamour  divin,  Essai  sur  les  sources  de  sainte  Therese,  p.  56,  Bordeaux, 
1923. 

3  Exercises,  Second  Week,  The  Kingdom  of  Christ,  Debuchy,  p.  73. 


44  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

chief  offensive  weapon  will  be  the  particular  examen  which 
attacks  some  bad  habit,  sin,  or  failing",  and  especially  their 
dominant  passion.  With  God's  help,  victories  will  thus 
constantly  be  won.  Christ's  soldier  conquers  virtues  as 
men  carry  fortified  positions  by  storm.  Others  will  get 
men  to  acquire  virtues  by  the  practice,  which  is  also  mortify- 
ing-, of  the  love  of  God  :  Ignatius  would  have  men  show 
their  love  by  fighting  against  their  bad  instincts.1  He  is 
not  far  from  agreeing  with  the  old  monks  that  virtue  must 
be  preceded  by  the  extirpation  of  the  vices  which  are  opposed 
to  it. 

Lastly,  it  was  a  disciplined  spirituality,  which  was 
governed  by  precise  methods  leaving  little  room  for  the 
unforeseen.  "  St  Ignatius  assumes  that  a  man  knows  where 
he  is  going  and  that  he  wants  to  get  there,  and  that  he  is 
ready  to  take  the  best  means  and,  therefore,  to  examine 
those  which  are  offered  and  to  weigh  and  to  select  them 
for  well-known  reasons."2  The  principal  means  is  the  medi- 
tation made  daily  at  a  fixed  hour  for  a  definite  time  on  a 
subject  chosen  and  prepared  beforehand  according  to  a 
method  leading  on  step  by  step.  Then  follows  the  examen  : 
the  examen  which  superintends  the  way  in  which  the  prayer 
is  made  to  eliminate  hindrances  and  to  keep  the  expedients 
that  help;3  the  particular  examen  which  records  victories 
or  failures  day  by  day.  It  is,  in  a  word,  a  strict  super- 
vision of  every  spiritual  experience,  indispensable  to  anyone 
who  would  defeat  the  wiles  of  the  enemy  within  or  from 
without.  This  may  be  called  compulsion  or  spiritual  tension. 
No  doubt;  but  "  unless  thou  do  thyself  violence,"  says  the 
Imitation,  "thou  shalt  not  overcome  vice."4  The  compul- 
sion was  most  profitable  for  guarding  the  soul  against  the 
pagan  seductions  of  the  Renaissance ;  furthermore,  this  com- 
pulsion and  tension  were  compatible  with  a  rightly  under- 
stood freedom  of  will. 

It  is  true  that  any  maladroit  or  inexperienced  person  might 
apply  these  methods  with  too  much  severity  and  keep  down 
the  spirit  from  all  upward  soaring.  We  should  then  have 
"piety  to  order"  with  all  its  drawbacks.6  But  St  Ignatius 
does  not  mean  to  straiten  the  action  of  grace  nor  to  bind  the 
soul  to  the  point  of  keeping  it  from  stirring  and  from  going 
whither  God  would  lead  it.  The  object  of  his  method  is  to 
prepare  us  for  the  action  cf  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  it  dis- 
appears as  soon  as  his  influence  is  felt,  pnd  we  recover  our 
freedom    to    follow   the   inspiration    of    God.      The    Ignatian 

1  Exercises,  Second  Week,  The  Kingdom  of  Christ,  Debuchy,  p.  73. 

2  A.  Brou,  La  s-piritualiti  de  St  Ignace,  p.  82. 

3  Exercises,  First  Week,  fifth  Addition. 

4  Lib.  I,  cap.  xxii  :  Nisi  tibi  vim  jeceris,  vitium  non  su-perabis. 

5  Faber,  All  for  Jesus. 


Sgnatfan  "  JEjeixises "  45 

method  is  not  a  set  of  drill-sergeant's  commands.  In  the 
Annotations  and  Additions  incorporated  with  the  Exercises 
the  director  is  advised  not  in  any  way  to  cramp  God's  action 
upon  the  retreatant's  soul. 


The  spirituality  of  the  Exercises  forms,  too,  men  of 
action  and  apostles  while  providing  a  discipline  for  the 
interior  life.  It  thoroughly  forwarded  the  plans  of  Ignatius 
as  the  founder  of  a  new  Order  of  religious  devoted  to  mission 
work  amidst  the  world  and  driven  to  find  their  own  safety 
in  a  thoroughly  sound  spiritual  training. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  many  religious 
congregations  were  inaugurated,  especially  in  Italy,  to  take 
charge  of  external  works,  such  as  the  improvement  of  the 
clergy,  missions,  the  education  of  the  young,  and  the  care 
of  the  sick.  Later  on,  we  shall  study  their  spirit  and  their 
teaching. 

St  Ignatius  took  part  in  the  movement  which  urged  men 
on  to  the  apostolate  when  he  founded  his  Institute,  the 
principal  aim  of  which  was  to  be  preaching  and  religious 
instruction,  especially  the  education  of  the  young,  and  any 
other  charge  which  might  be  entrusted  to  it  by  the  Holy 
See.  A  fourth  vow  of  absolute  obedience  to  the  Pope  was 
required  of  members  of  the  Society. 

In  order  that  the  new  religious  might  have  every  oppor- 
tunity of  devoting  themselves  to  their  works,  they  were 
"  bound  to  say  the  divine  Office  according  to  the  rite  of  the 
Church,  each  one  separately  and  privately,  and  not  in 
common  and  in  the  choir."1  In  this  way  a  great  change 
was  introduced  into  the  old  form  of  the  monastic  and 
religious  life.  Ignatius  made  a  real  alteration  in  the  centre 
of  gravity  of  the  devotion  of  the  religious.  Until  his  day, 
it  revolved  around  the  psalmody  of  the  divine  Office.  Even 
the  Franciscans  and  the  Dominicans,  though  they  were  pledged 
to  mission  work,  were  bound  to  the  choir  Offices.  The 
Jesuit  says  his  Office  in  private ;  this  is  the  most  important 
of  his  religious  exercises,  but  it  is  not  the  whole  of  his 
devotion.  Meditation  and  examination  of  conscience  form 
the  framework  of  his  spiritual  life  and  make  a  rampart  about 
it  and  protect  it  efficaciously  against  the  assaults  of  the 
world  amidst  which  it  has  to  be  preserved  and  to  grow. 

A  means  of  protection,  Ignatian  spirituality  is  also  an 
inspirer  of  zeal.  It  develops  the  spirit  of  initiative  and 
conquering  ardour.  "  The  same  offensive  as  it  carries  on 
against  the   evil   within   us,    it   takes   also   against   the   evil 

1  Bull  approving  the  Jesuils  by  Paul  III,  Regimini  militantis 
Ecclesiae,  of  September  27,  1540.  Cf.  Meschler,  S.J.,  La  Com-pagnie 
de  Jesus,  ses  statuts  et  ses  resultais,  Mazoyer's  translation,  Paris. 


46  Christian  Spirituality 

without  us."  Ignatius  called  his  Society  a  "Company," 
taking-  the  metaphor  from  military  life.  It  is,  indeed,  a  troop 
of  soldiers  of  Christ,  flung-  forward  for  the  conquest  of  souls, 
that  he  wished  to  organize.  And  that  each  soldier  might 
help  on  the  common  work  effectively,  his  personal  action  was 
to  be  governed  by  a  strict  obedience  to  his  leader.1 

IV— THE    FIRST    JESUIT   SPIRITUAL   WRITERS 

The  historians  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  relate  the  lives  of 
the  illustrious  religious  who  were  the  offspring  of  the 
Ignatian  spirituality.  The  compass  of  this  work  will  not 
allow  us  to  follow  them.  Let  us  be  satisfied  with  mention- 
ing those  of  the  first  disciples  of  Ignatius  who  have  left  us 
spiritual  writings. 

Blessed  Pierre  Le  Fevre,2  who  lived  in  Paris  with  Ignatius 
and  Francis  Xavier  in  the  same  room  for  students,  has  left 
behind  him  a  sort  of  autobiography  :  The  Memorial. 

Born  in  Savoy,  Le  Fevre  has  somewhat  the  same  smiling 
character  as  Francis  de  Sales.  A  lover  of  purity  and  of  the 
ideal,  and  with  a  great  yearning  for  knowledge,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  triumphing  over  the  temptations  of  youth  which 
were  not  lacking  in  his  case.  God  directed  his  steps  in  the 
way  of  perfection  by  trials  of  conscience,  scruples  and  pain- 
ful uncertainties  as  to  his  vocation.  It  was  through  Ignatius 
that  he  found  peace  and  resolved,  after  making  the  Exercises, 
to  become  a  missionary.  He  was  one  of  the  first  apostolic 
workers  to  preserve  South  Germany  from  the  inroads  of 
Protestantism  and  there  to  keep  alive  the  Catholic  faith. 
He  it  was  who  attracted   Peter  Canisius  to  the   Society  of 

Jesus. 

Le  Fevre  was  able  to  combine  the  active  with  the  contem- 
plative life  :  he  shows  in  his  charming  Memorial  how  they 
react  upon  one  another.  He  also  had  a  very  special  devotion 
to  the  angels.  He  not  only  honoured  the  guardian  angels 
of  the  faithful,  but  all  the  angels ;  those  of  cities  and 
churches.  He  treated  them  as  friends  and  thought  that  the 
angels  were  glad  to  have  friends  among  men.     St  Francis 

1  St  Ignatius'  teaching  on  obedience  is  found  in  his  celebrated  letter 
to  the  Portugese  Fathers  in  the  Thesaurus  spiritualis  Societatis  Jesu, 
and  in  the  famous  article  of  the  Constitutions :  Quisque  sibi  persuadeat, 
quod  qui  sub  obedientia  vivunt,  se  ferri  ac  regi  a  divina  providentia 
per  superiores  suos  sinere  debent  perinde  ac  si  cadaver  essent,  quod 
quoquoversus  ferri  et  quacumque  ratione  tractari  se  sinit :  yel  similiter 
atque  senis  baculus  qui  ubicumque  et  quacumque  in  re  velit  eo  uti,  qui 
eum  manu  tenet,  ei  inservit. 

2  He  was  born  in  Savoy  at  Villaret  in  1506.  As  a  child,  he  watched 
over  his  father's  flocks.  In  1525  he  was  sent  to  Paris,  where  he  met 
Ignatius  three  years  later.  Le  Fevre's  Memorial  has  been  translated 
into  French  by  Pere  Bouix,  Paris,  1874. 


■Janatian  "Exercises"  47 

de  Sales  admired  this  devotion  of  Pierre  Le  Fevre  for  the 
Holy  Angels,  which  is  so  reminiscent  of  that  of  St  Bernard. 
It  was  also  a  spiritual  Diarium1  that  has  been  left  us  by 
St  Francis  Borgia,  it  includes  several  years  of  his  life  as 
General.  It  consists  of  simple  notes  in  his  own  handwriting, 
often  unintelligible  to  others.  St  Teresa  had  two  conversa- 
tions with  Francis  Borgia,2  and  calls  him  *'  a  great  contem- 
plative." She  consulted  him  as  to  the  prayer  of  quietude 
and  asked  him  how  the  active  life  and  the  contemplative 
life  could  be  found  united  in  it.  Francis  answered  that  "  it 
was  not  at  all  impossible,  and  that  it  often  happened  so 
with  himself."3  Hence,  in  contemplation  his  soul  was  able 
never  to  lose  sight  of  God  amidst  the  overwhelming  anxieties 
of  the  government  of  a  religious  Order.  Without  any  pain- 
ful striving  he  used  to  offer  God  every  hour  of  the  day  for 
some  definite  intention.  At  one  and  the  same  time  he  ful- 
filled the  office  of  Martha  with  that  of  Mary. 

The  same  union  of  the  active  with  the  contemplative  life 
is  found  in  the  case  of  St  Peter  Canisius4  who,  says 
Leo  XIII,  "is  the  second  apostle  of  Germany  after  St 
Boniface."  Canisius  tells  us  of  his  spiritual  life  in  two  of 
his  writings  :  his  Confessions,  in  the  class  of  those  of  St 
Augustine,  and  his  Spiritual  Will.  His  Letters  also  inform 
us  about  what  was  taking  place  in  his  soul.  Ecstasies, 
raptures,  and  even  visions  rewarded  him  for  his  immense 
apostolic  labours. 

Of  St  Francis  Xavier  we  have  nothing  but  his  Letters.  5 
They  are  a  lifelike  expression  of  his  fiery  soul,  which  no 
fatigue  could  cast  down,  no  suffering  affright,  when  there 
were  unbelievers  to  be  converted.  Xavier  was  favoured  with 
mystical  graces,  and  his  ecstasies  were  many.  He  never 
ceased  his  prayers  and  never  interrupted  his  most  intimate 

1  Vol.  V,  pp.  729-887  of  the  M. H.S.J.  Suau,  Saint  Francois  de 
Borgia,  Paris,  1910.  Born  in  1510,  Francis  Borgia  was  General  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  in  1565.  He  died  in  1572.  He  defended  Ignatius  when 
he  was  first  attacked,  and  had  the  Exercises  approved  by  Paul  III  in 
1548.     He  also  composed  a  treatise  called  The   Christianas  Works. 

2  St  Teresa,  Spiritual  Relations,  relat.  LIII. 

3  St  Teresa,  Way  of  Perfection,  chap.  xxxi.     Cf.  Life,  chap.  xxiv. 

4  Born  in  Guelderland  at  Nimeguen  in  1521,  he  died  at  Freiburg  in 
Switzerland.  He  founded  many  colleges  in  Germany,  was  a  very  popular 
preacher,  and  attended  the  imperial  Diets.  He  was  also  sent  to  the 
Council  of  Trent,  where  he  met  his  confreres,  Laynez,  Alfonso  Sal- 
meron,  and  Le  Jay.  His  spiritual  writings  are  :  his  Conferences  and 
his  Will,  published  with  his  Letters  by  Otto  Braunsberger,  Beati 
Petri  Canisii  Efistulae  et  acta,  Freiburg,  1896  ff. ;  Vol.  I,  contains  what 
is  left  of  the  Confessions — i.e.,  the  first  book  with  a  few  other  frag- 
ments, and  the  Will.  Canisius  published  a  German  edition  of  the 
sermons  and  other  works  of  the  Dominican  John  Tauler,  Cologne,  1543. 
Cf.  Le  Bachelet,  Diet,  de  Thiol,  cath.,  art.  Canisius. 

5  Cros,  Saint  Francois  Xavier,  sa  vie  et  ses  lettres,  2  vols.,  Toulouse, 
1900.     A.  Brou,  Saint  Francois  Xavier,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1912. 


48  Christian  Spirituality 

intercourse  with  God,  except  for  the  labours  of  the  mission- 
field. 

Lastly,  Pedro  Ribadeneira,1  the  disciple  and  historian  of 
St  Ignatius,  has  edified  generation  after  generation  of 
Christians  with  his  Flowers  of  the  Saints,  published  in 
Spanish  at  Madrid  in  1599,  and  soon  translated  into  French. 
In  this  biographical  work  we  must  not  expect  to  find  the 
critical  spirit  to  which  we  have  grown  accustomed  since  the 
time  of  the  Bollandists.  Certainly  there  may  be  found  in 
it  much  unction  and  devotion,  and  a  great  desire  for  the 
sanctification  of  souls. 

1  Born  at  Toledo  in  1527,  he  joined  St  Ignatius  in  1540.  He  worked 
in  succession  in  the  Low  Countries,  in  France,  and  in  Spain.  He  died 
at  Madrid  in  161 1.  Besides  The  Flowers  of  the  Saints,  he  wrote  lives 
of  St  Ignatius,  St  Francis  Borgia,  and  of  Laynez  and  Salmeron. 

c 


CHAPTER    III 

CHRISTIAN  HUMANISM  AND  DEVOUT  HUMANISM— 
THEIR   SPIRITUALITY 

<A  T  the  dawn  of   the   Renaissance,   while   the   monks 

/^L        were  endeavouring-  within  their  cloisters  to  ward 

/     m       off  the  worldly  spirit  by  means  of  mental  prayer, 

/  ^^  Christian  humanists  were  also  working  in  their 
-A-  -*-o\vn  fashion  towards  a  restoration  of  the 
Christian  life., 

We  note,  in  fact,  a  twofold  tendency  in  the  Renaissance  : 
one,  as  we  have  seen,  clearly  pagan,  which  was  consciously 
or  unconsciously  ruining  all  religion  and  morality  by  the 
study  of  antiquity ;  the  other  intending  to  remain  true  to 
Catholic  faith  and  practice,  and  to  bring  literature  and  art 
into  the  service  of  Christian  religion  and  piety.  This  second 
tendency  is  that  of  Christian  humanism,  a  humanism  which, 
according  to  many  writers,  was  the  forerunner  of  Pro- 
testantism. Besides  its  love  for  classical  antiquity,  it  took 
an  indulgent  and  optimistic  view  of  human  nature,  which  is 
the  characteristic  of  what  has  been  called  devout  humanism. 

I— CHRISTIAN    HUMANISM 

These  are  the  principal  Christian  humanists  :  in  the  Rhine- 
land,  Cardinal  Nicholas  de  Cusa  (11464) ;  in  Italy,  Pico  della 
Mirandola1  and  Cardinal  Sadolet  (11547)  ;  in  England,  Blessed 
Thomas  More;2  in  France,  Lefevre  of  Etaples;3  in  Germany, 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam.4 

1  The  celebrated  author  of  nine  hundred  theses  submitted  to  Rome, 
thirteen  of  which  were  declared  to  be  heretical.  In  1489  he  published 
his  Apologia  in  self-defence.  It  is  a  manifesto  of  Christian  humanism. 
He  died  at  Florence  in  1494,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one.  Works,  Bologna, 
1496,  and  Venice,  1498. 

2  Henri  Bremond,  Le  Bienheureux  Thomas  More,  Paris,  1904.  (Eng- 
lish trans.,  London,  Burns  Oates  and  Washbourne.) 

3  Lefevre  of  Etaples,  the  greatest  of  French  humanists,  was  born  in 
1455.  He  studied  in  Paris,  and  then  in  Italy  and  Germany.  He  retired 
to  Saint-Germain-des-Pres  at  Paris,  and  then  to  Meaux  and  Strasbourg. 
He  died  in  1536.  He  translated  the  whole  of  Aristotle  with  comments. 
He  studied  theology,  which  he  wished  to  bring  back  to  its  sources,  the 
Bible,  and  the  Fathers.  He  also  published  the  text  of  several  parts  of 
the  Bible  with  a  commentary.  The  two  chief  works  in  which  his  ideas 
on  religion  are  to  be  found  are  :  the  Preface  of  the  Psalterium  auin- 
tuflex,  in  which  the  various  texts  of  the  Psalter  are  set  in  parallel ;  and 
his  Commentaries  on  the  Epistles  of  St  Paul,  published  in  1512.  Luther 
justified  himself  by  using  the  works  of  Lefevre  to  support  his  two  chief 
principles  of  private  inspiration  and  justification  by  faith  only.  Lefevre 
also  wrote  Scholia  on  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  Venice,   1556. 

*  Desiderius  Erasmus  was  born  at  Rotterdam  in  1464.     When  twelve 
years  old  he  went  to  the  celebrated  school  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Common 
III.  49  4 


so  Christian  Spirituality 

They  are  usually  regarded — at  any  rate,  the  two  last — 
as  inspirers  of  Luther.  Though  they  did  not  foresee  this, 
they  certainly  are  so  through  their  work  of  criticism  and 
through  certain  of  their  views.  They  reacted  against  the 
formalism  of  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  such  a  way  as 
to  make  the  Christian  religion  appear  a  purely  inward  and 
personal  affair.  They  laughed  at  the  abuse  of  Scholasticism 
to  the  point  of  depreciating — doubtless  unintentionally — the 
dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Church.  They  criticized  the 
behaviour  of  the  monks  of  their  time  in  language  that 
appears  to  implicate  the  religious  life  itself.  They  recom- 
mended the  reading  of  the  Bible  to  all  the  faithful  indis- 
criminately, as  the  Protestants  were  about  to  do.  But  their 
manifest  and  dangerous  exaggerations  must  not  make  us 
fail  to  acknowledge  the  soundness  of  some  of  their  work. 
It  is  well  to  know  it,  because  it  has  had  a  great  influence 
over  the  devotion  of  the  Renaissance  era,  and  it  will  help 
us  to  understand  Protestant  mysticism. 

It  may  be  summarized  in  these  three  points  :  means  for 
keeping  oneself  from  the  corruption  of  the  world ;  a  return 
to  the  inner  life  which  is  stifled  by  the  use  of  formalist 
practices ;  the  direct  study  of  the  Word  of  God  in  Holy 
Scripture  for  the  purpose  of  edification,  and  not  in  order  to 
make  subtle  dissertations  on  idle  questions.1 


Life  at  Deventer.  Being  illegitimate,  he  could  not  enter  the  ranks  of  the 
secular  clergy.  He  joined  the  Augustinians  in  i486,  and  took  the 
vows,  despite  his  repugnance  for  the  monastic  life.  Released  from  his 
vows,  he  was  ordained  priest  in  1492  by  the  Bishop  of  Cambrai.  From 
this  time  forward  Erasmus  began  his  cosmopolitan  life.  He  travelled 
in  France,  in  England  and  in  Italy,  and  was  welcomed  everywhere 
on  account  of  his  world-renown  in  letters.  Henry  VIII  of  England, 
Charles  V,  Francis  I  of  France,  and  Popes  Julius  II  and  Leo  X 
endeavoured  to  keep  him  near  them.  In  1521  he  settled  at  Bale  to 
superintend  the  printing  of  his  works.  There  he  died  in  1536. 
Erasmus  sums  up  in  himself  the  tendencies  of  his  period.  Luther 
tried,  though  in  vain,  to  draw  him  into  his  own  rebellion  against  the 
Church.  Erasmus  contributed  powerfully  to  the  revival  of  learning  bv 
his  writings  and  by  his  editions  of  the  works  of  ancient  authors, 
whether  heathen  or  Christian.  His  edition  of  the  New  Testament 
(Greek  original  and  Latin  translation)  was  very  successful.  His 
religious  opinions  are  to  be  found  above  all  in  his  Enchiridion  militis 
christiani,  a  kind  of  humanist  manual  of  the  Christian  life,  published 
in  1504;  Paraclesis,  id  est  adhortatio  ad  christianae  fhilosofhiae 
siudium  (1516)  and  Ratio  seu  methodus  ferveniendi  ad  veram 
theologiam  (1518),  which  criticizes  the  theology  of  the  School  and 
extols  the  new  theology  based  upon  Scripture  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church  :  Colloquia  familiaria  (1518),  not  a  highly  moral  work.  The 
Praise  of  Folly,  Laus  stultitiae  (1509),  is  a  bitter  and  exaggerated 
satire  on  monachism,  and  the  licentiousness  of  the  clergy  and  the 
people.  O-pera  omnia,  Bale,  1540;  Leyden,  1703-1706,  Ed.  Clericus  (Le 
Clerc). 

1  Cf.  Imbart  de  la  Tour,  Les  origines  de  la  Reforme,  Vol.  II. 


ibumantst  influence  51 

Two  works  of  Erasmus  stand  out  in  giving  us  an  idea  of 
this  reaction  of  Christian  humanism  against  the  pagan  cor- 
ruption of  the  Renaissance  :  the  Enchiridioij  militis  christiani1 
and  the  De  contemptu  mundi.2  They  are  written  in  such 
classical  Latin  as  only  the  first  Latinist  of  his  day  could 
write.  They  are  also  steeped  in  the  spirit  of  humanism. 
St  Ignatius  Loyola,  who  read  the  Enchiridion,  was  be- 
wildered by  the  tone  in  which  it  speaks,  without  any  shades 
of  the  deference  required,  of  theologians  and  devotional 
practices.  But  Erasmus,  with  his  quite  military  manner  of 
training  the  Christian,  must  have  given  him  pleasure. 

For  Erasmus  summons  the  Christian  soldier  to  a  real 
battle  with  the  world.  Is  not  the  Christian  life  a  perpetual 
combat?  The  enemies  change:  the  devils  "ever  on  the 
watch,"  the  world  "which  attacks  us  right  and  left,  on  the 
front  and  from  the  rear,"  our  passions  "  which  are  all 
the  more  dangerous  from  being  within  us  and  because  we 
cannot  get  away  from  them."  Therefore  we  must  always  be 
under  arms  : Prima  cura  sit  ne  inermis  sit  animus.3 

The  principal  weapons  recommended  are  :  prayer,  "  which 
lifts  up  our  hearts  to  heaven  as  to  a  citadel  that  our  enemies 
cannot  reach  "  ;  and  knowledge,  which  "  furnishes  our  minds 
with  wholesome  thoughts."  Knowledge  of  the  Christian 
warfare  is  what  Erasmus  proposes  to  teach  in  his  Enchiridion. 
At  the  outset  he  finds  it  in  Holy  Scripture,  but  as  a  good 
humanist  he  goes  in  search  of  it  also  in  profane  literature, 
in  poets  and  philosophers,  who  have  also  formulated  maxims 
which  are  helps  to  virtue. 

Before  all,  we  must  come  to  know  ourselves,  since  our 
fighting  must  be  directed  against  ourselves.  To  possess  a 
good  knowledge  of  oneself,  therefore,  must  be  the  primary 
condition  of  victory.  Furthermore,  the  Christian  has  to 
study  his  body,  his  soul,  his  passions,  and  the  opposition 
between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit  spoken  of  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. Our  humanist  takes  care  to  mention,  by  the  way, 
the  theories  of  the  Stoics  and  the  Peripatetics  as  to  the 
passions. 

Ignorance  is  the  cause  of  the  great  inferiority  of  the 
Christian  soldier.      In  order  to  get  rid  of  it,   Erasmus  puts 

1  Desiderii  Erasmi  roterodami  Of  era  omnia,  torn.  V,  pp.  2-66,  Lug- 
duni  Batav.,  1704.  The  Enchiridion  is  addressed  to  Adolph,  son  of 
Philip  of  Burgundy.  It  was  much  read.  Louis  de  Berquin  translated 
it  into  French,  1529.  There  was  a  Spanish  edition  in  1528,  and  an 
English  one  in  1583. 

2  ibid.,  pp.  1239-1262.  The  work  of  Erasmus  has  been  very  variously 
appreciated.  Janssen  {V Allemagne  et  la  Reforme,  II,  6-22)  is  very 
severe  in  his  judgement  of  Erasmus.  Cf.  F.  Mourret,  Hist,  gen  dg 
VEglise,  ibid. 

8  Enchiridion,  cap.  ii. 


52  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

forward  twenty-two  rules  (canones),  "  general  rules  of  true 
Christianity,"  which  must  lead  to  perfection,  if  they  are 
followed.1 

The  Christian  soldier  will  hold  fast  the  purity  of  his  faith. 
He  will  be  ready  to  lose  everything-,  even  life  itself,  for 
Christ.  He  will  die  to  the  world  and  be  convinced  that  the 
narrow  way  is  more  pleasant  and  more  suitable  than  the 
broad  way.  The  aim  of  his  studies,  his  desires,  and  his 
efforts  will  be  to  reproduce  Christ  in  himself.  Thus,  he  will 
strive  incessantly  to  turn  aside  from  things  visible  to  advance 
in  things  invisible.  And  above  all — a  practical  piece  of  advice 
at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance — he  will  hold  himself  aloof 
from  the  maxims  and  example  of  the  common  run  of  men 
to  find  in  Christ  alone  the  example  of  perfect  devotion.  "  To 
depart  from  this  example,  even  by  a  line's  breadth,  is  to  go 
astray."  Besides,  the  more  we  advance  in  the  love  of 
Christ,  the  more  we  hate  the  world ;  the  more  we  wonder 
at  invisible  realities,  the  more  ugly  we  find  what  is  passing 
away. 

The  other  fifteen  rules  concern  temptations  and  the  way 
to  resist  them. 

In  addition  to  the  struggle  there  must  be  meditation  on 
the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  and  on  the  hideousness  of  sin. 
God  must  be  contrasted  with  Satan  ;  by  resisting  we  become 
servants  of  God,  and  by  sinning  the  slaves  of  Satan.2  We 
must  also  compare  heaven  with  hell.  We  must  remember 
the  fragility  of  life  and  the  sinner's  risk  of  dying  impenitent. 
Those  who  escape  from  licentiousness  are  so  few  !  The 
Enchiridion  ends  with  special  counsels  for  overcoming  sen- 
sualism, avarice,  ambition,  pride,  and  anger. 

In  the  De  contemptu  mundi,  Erasmus  further  insists  on 
the  dangers  for  the  Christian  in  the  world  of  the  Renaissance. 
Is  not  the  safest  way  to  flee  from  them  by  retiring  into 
solitude?  "  Nothing,  indeed,  is  more  miserable,  nothing 
more  vain,  nothing  more  pernicious  than  the  goods  of  this 
world."  Real  liberty  and  real  peace  are  not  for  the  worldly. 
And  in  the  hour  of  death,  must  we  not  leave  everything 
behind?  Therefore  let  us  renounce  beforehand  whatever  we 
must  inevitably  give  up  some  day  ! 

Another  humanist,  Michel  de  Montaigne  (11592),  was  also 
able  to  enforce  the  same  lesson  from  death  in  a  moving  way, 
but  purely  as  a  philosopher  : 

"  To  think  upon  death  beforehand  is  to  think  upon  freedom. 
He  who  hath  learnt  to  die  hath  unlearnt  to  be  an  underling. 
Knowing  how  to  die  setteth  us  free  from  all  subjection  and 

1  Enchiridion,  cap.  viii. 

2  It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  passage  from  the  Enchiridion  with 
the  meditation  on  the  Two  Standards  of  St  Ignatius  Loyola. 


tmmantet  influence  53 

bondage.  There  is  no  evil  in  life  for  him  who  hath  well 
learnt  that  the  loss  of  life  is  no  evil."1 

We  should  become  familiar  with  the  thought  of  death, 
and  learn  not  to  fear  it : 

"  The  goal  of  our  career  is  death  :  it  is  the  one  thing 
whereat  we  must  aim.  If  it  affright  us,  how  can  we  go 
forward,  save  in  a  fever?  The  remedy  of  the  common  folk 
is  not  to  think  thereon.  But  what  a  brutish  stupidity  befalleth 
them  of  such  gross  blindness?  They  must  be  made  to 
bridle  the  ass  by  the  tail.  .  .  .  No  wonder  if  they  be  often 
taken  in  the  snare.  Our  people  are  often  afeared  at  the 
mere  name  of  death,  and  the  more  part  do  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross  thereat  as  at  the  name  of  the  devil.   .   .   . 

"  If  (death)  were  an  enemy  man  could  avoid,  I  would 
counsel  him  to  use  the  arms  of  cowardice.  But  since  he 
cannot,  and  since  it  catcheth  you  when  ye  run  away  in 
your  poltroonery  as  well  as  if  ye  make  an  honest  stand  .  .  . 
and  since  whatever  be  the  temper  of  your  cuirass,  it  cannot 
cover  you  .  .  .  learn  ye  with  firmly  planted  foot  to  endure 
death  and  give  it  battle.  And  to  take  therefrom  its  chief 
advantage  over  us,  let  us  choose  a  way  quite  contrary  to 
the  common.  Let  us  strip  it  of  its  outlandishness,  let  us 
make  it  our  practice  and  our  habit  to  have  in  our  heads 
nothing  so  often  as  death.  At  every  moment  let  us  picture 
it  in  our  imaginations  and  in  every  form.  At  the  stumbling 
of  a  horse,  at  the  fall  of  a  tile,  at  the  least  pricking  of  a 
pin,  let  us  reflect  of  a  sudden  :  What  if  this  were  death 
itself?  and  therewith  let  us  be  hard  and  set  our  wills."2 

This  stoical  attitude  is  grounded  upon  quite  natural  reasons 
by  "  the  good  admonitions  of  our  mother  nature."  Our 
death  is  an  essential  part  of  corporal  existence.  It  is  "  one 
of  the  parts  of  the  order  of  the  Universe  ...  a  part  of  the 
life  of  the  world. "  Will  Nature  change  "  this  fine  con- 
texture of  things"3  for  us?     No. 

Erasmus  is  more  of  a  Christian  and  less  of  a  philosopher 
when  he  speaks  of  death.  He  wrote  a  little  book  on  the  way 
to  prepare  for  it,  the  success  of  which  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  comparable  with  that  of  the  Imitation.41  To  die 
well,  the  most  important  thing  is  to  purify  the  soul  by  the 
reception  of  the  last  sacraments.     Detachment  from  all  that 

1  Essais,  Book  I,  chap,  xx,  Ed.  F.  Strowski,  Bordeaux,  1906,  p.  107. 
Montaigne  was  much  appreciated  by  St  Francois  de  Sales.  See  CEuvres 
de  saint  Francois  de  Sales,  Annecy,  1S92;  Vol.  I,  p.  lxiii. 

2  ibid.,  pp.   103-107. 

3  ibid.,  p.   114. 

4  De  frae-paratione  ad  morte?n,  written  in  1533,  Opera,  torn.  V, 
pp.  1293-1348.  French  translation,  Lyons,  1538.  This  book  of  Erasmus 
is  often  found  bound  up  with  and  following  Internal  Consolation  {The 
Imitation).  The  humanism  in  this  work  of  Erasmus  had  something 
to  do  with  its  success. 


54  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

is  transitory  is  a  condition,  but  not  everything-,  for  a  good 
death.  Nevertheless,  the  human  motives  of  such  detach- 
ment are  so  set  in  relief  that  we  can  understand  the  following 
judgement  of  Feugere  with  regard  to  the  notions  of  Erasmus 
on  death  :  "  Here  we  already  find  the  spirit  of  philosophy 
trying  to  dissipate  the  religious  terrors  as  to  the  last  hours  of 
men.  Erasmus,  like  Montaigne  later  on,  is  not  far  from 
envying  the  ancients  for  their  peaceful  death,  which  they 
reached  without  bitterness  in  a  state  of  hazy  somnolence."1 


At  the  same  time  as  he  is  preparing  the  Christian  for  the 
battle  with  the  world,  Erasmus  trains  him  in  the  interior  life. 

Above  all,  he  warns  him  beforehand  against  what  he  calls 
"the  religion  of  the  common  people,"  which  consists  in 
the  faithful  observance  of  external  practices  without  any 
effort  to  reform  one's  conduct  and  to  become  closely  united 
with  Christ  : 

"  Thou  art  baptized,"  he  says.  "  Think  not  that  thou  art 
indeed,  therefore,  a  Christian,  if  thou  hast  disgust  only 
for  the  world.  Thou  art  a  Christian  in  public,  and  in  secret 
thou  art  more  pagan  than  the  pagans.  And  why?  Because 
thou  hast  but  the  body  of  the  sacrament  and  hast  not  its 
spirit.  What  is  the  good  of  bodily  washing  if  the  soul  be 
defiled  in  will?"2 

A  life  of  purity,  intimate  and  living  union  with  Christ  the 
Redeemer,  these  are  the  main  part  of  Christianity.  Instead 
of  this,  many  are  satisfied  with  a  host  of  pharisaical  observ- 
ances which  they  join  with  a  disorderly  life,  and  that  without 
remorse.  Erasmus  speaks  of  them  in  terms  of  implacable 
irony.  Does  veneration  of  the  saints  mean  just  making 
pilgrimages  to  their  tombs,  touching  their  relics,  and  at  the 
same  time  despising  the  best  of  all  that  they  have  left  behind 
for  us  :  the  example  of  a  pure  life?  To  imitate  the  faith  of 
St  Peter  and  the  charity  of  St  Paul  is  worth  more  than  ten 
pilgrimages  to  Rome.  What  is  the  use  of  clothing  oneself 
in  the  hour  of  death  with  the  rough  drugget  of  St  Francis, 
if  one  has  been  not  the  least  like  St  Francis  during  one's 
life?  Furthermore,  we  are  certain  that  the  best  way  of 
honouring  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  to  imitate  her  humility.3 

Yet  Erasmus  does  not  put  forward  any  desire  to  do  away 
with  worship  and  outward  observances.  But  he  wishes  them 
to  be  well  understood  :  they  are  means  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  inward  life.     They  are  necessary  means,  too ;  for  religion 

1  Erasme ;  Etude  sur  sa  vie  et  ses  ouvrages,  Paris,  1877,  quoted  by 
Janssen,  of.  cit.,  II,  p.  21. 

2  Enchiridion,  cap.  viii,  Ofera,  torn.  V,  p.  31. 

3  Enchiridion,  ibid.  Montaigne  also  criticizes  formalism  :  Essais, 
Book  I,  chap.  Ivi. 


fmmantet  influence  55 

without  external  practices  is  not  enough.  Faith,  however 
perfect,  without  works  worthy  of  it,  far  from  being-  profit- 
able does  but  complete  one's  damnation.1 

Lefevre  of  Etaples,  in  his  reaction  against  formalism,  shows 
himself  unable  to  keep  within  such  just  measure.  He  gives 
such  honour  to  justification  by  faith  when  he  comments  on 
St  Paul  that  he  seems  to  throw  good  works  overboard.2 
Many  perhaps  wrongly  regard  him  as  the  promoter  of  the 
Lutheran  theory  of  justification  by  faith  only.  3 

This  excessive  reaction  of  the  humanists  against  outward 
practices,  and  what  they  called  "  the  religion  of  the  crowd," 
arises,  like  most  of  their  other  tendencies,  from  Platonist 
idealism. 

The  Renaissance  was  a  reaction  from  the  Aristotelianism 
of  the  School.  Its  Platonist4  philosophy  filled  it  with  a 
kind  of  aversion  to  whatever  was  material,  and  a  marked  pre- 
dilection for  a  sort  of  religious  symbolism  bordering  upon 
dilettantism.  Transcendent  subjectivism — after  the  fashion 
of  Plotinus  —  which  made  the  soul  enter  into  direct  com- 
munion with  God,  must  have  suggested  to  the  humanists,  as 
we  shall  see,  their  doctrine  of  the  symbolical  and  private 
interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture. 


One  of  the  great  means  of  fostering  the  interior  life,  which 
is  forcibly  urged  by  the  Christian  humanists,  is,  in  fact,  the 
study  of  God's  Word  as  contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  not 
as  it  is  propounded  by  the  decadent  theologians  of  the  Renais- 
sance. These,  according  to  the  humanists,  conceal  the  Word 
of  God  beneath  a  heap  of  learnedly  constructed  syllogisms. 
They  go  astray  in  a  labyrinth  of  a  host  of  subtle  questions, 
the  solution  of  which  is  often  impossible  and,  in  any  case, 
quite  useless  for  the  Christian  life. 

To  such  argumentative  and  refined  theology  they  oppose 
a  theology  which  is  practical.  To  them  religion  is  less  a 
fountain    of    knowledge   than    of    life;    it    means    union    with 

1  Enchiridion,  cap.  viii,  Ofera,  torn.  V,  p.  31. 

2  Sancti  Pauli  epistolae  XIV  cum  commentariis  Jacobi  Fabri 
stafulensis,   1515,  torn.  I,   16;  VII,  3;  VIII,  4. 

3  Cf.  Lavisse  et  Rarabaud,  Histoire  generate,  Vol.  IV,  p.  479. 

4  Platonist  idealism  makes  its  first  appearance  in  Italy  with  Gemistus 
Plethon  and  Cardinal  Bessarion  (1472).  But  the  great  Platonist  was 
the  Florentine  Marsilio  Ficino  (ti499),  the  celebrated  translator  of  Plato 
into  Latin  (Venice,  1491),  of  Plotinus  (Florence.  1492),  and  of  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite  (Opera  omnia,  Cologne,  1536,  Paris,  1641,  2  vols.).  He 
undertook  the  work  of  a  Theologia  -platonica.  It  was  Giles  of  Viterbo 
who  compiled  this  Platonist  Theology  with  a  commentary  on  the 
Sentences  (Recherches  de  Science  religiense,  July-October,  1923).  In 
Spain  Miguel  Servetus  (-f-1563),  in  his  famous  book,  La  Restauration 
du  Christianisme,  reproduces  the  pantheist  doctrines  of  Plotinus. 


56  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

God.1  If  the  Lord  has  revealed  religious  truths,  it  is  for  our 
guidance  and  not  for  the  satisfaction  of  our  curiosity.  And, 
in  order  to  learn  them,  the  heart  and  love  are  more  help- 
ful than  reasoning  and  syllogisms.  Theologians  too  often 
forget  this  : 

"  For  me,"  says  Erasmus,  "  the  true  theologian  is  not  he 
who  teaches  with  artificially  made  syllogisms,  but  by  his 
whole  attitude  and  life,  that  we  must  despise  riches,  that  the 
Christian  must  not  put  his  trust  in  the  goods  of  this  world, 
but  only  in  those  which  are  from  above.  .  .  .  For  as  to 
how  the  angels  communicate  their  thoughts  to  one  another, 
any  writer  who  is  even  not  a  Christian  can  make  disserta- 
tions thereon  better  than  we.  But  to  persuade  us  that  we 
ought  to  live  a  pure  and  angelic  life,  such  is  surely  the  work 
of  a  Christian  theologian."2 

Yet  theology  thus  understood  ought  to  be  scientific. 

The  humanists  tried  to  recast  theology  on  critical  lines. 
They  wished  to  found  it  upon  the  Bible  scientifically  edited 
and  interpreted,  as  well  as  upon  the  undoubtedly  authentic 
teaching  of  the  Fathers.  Erasmus  wanted  "  Christ  preached 
according  to  the  fountain-heads."  He  wished  men  not  to 
let  go  the  advantages  which  a  classical  training  might  supply 
to  theologians.3 

To  furnish  Bible-readers  with  as  accurate  a  text  as  pos- 
sible of  the  original,  the  humanists  made  critical  editions  of 
the  sacred  books.*  But  the  Bible  is  not  the  book  of  the 
learned  only ;  every  Christian  has  the  right  to  read  it  : 

"  Neither  age  nor  sex,  neither  condition  nor  position,  should 
keep  anyone  from  such  reading.  The  sun  does  not  more 
belong  to  everybody  than  does  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  .  .  . 
I  should  like  every  woman  to  read  the  Gospel  and  the  Epistles 
of  St  Paul."5 

In  order  not  to  go  astray  in  the  interpretation  of  the  pas- 
sages   read,    Erasmus    advises    men    usually    to    follow   the 

1  Hie  frimus  et  unicus  sit  tibi  scopus,  hoc  votum,  hoc  unum  age, 
ut  muteris,  ut  rapiaris,  ut  affleris,  ut  transformeris  in  ea  quae  discis. 
Erasmus,  Ratio  seu  methodus  perveniendi  ad  veram  theologiam.  Opera, 
torn.  V,  p.  77. 

3  Paraclesis,  id  est  adhortatio  ad  christianae  philosophiae  studium, 
torn.  V,  p.  140.  Hoc  Philosophiae  genus  in  affectibus  situm  verius 
quam  in  syllogismis,  vita  est  magis  quam  disputatio,  afflatus  potius 
quam  eruditio,  transformatio  magis  quam  ratio,  p.  144.  Cf.  Lefevre  of 
Etaples,  Comment,  in  Epist.  ad  Rom.,  i,  15;  xiii,  3. 

*  Ratio  .   .   .  perveniendi  ad  veram  theol.,  ibid. 

*  "  Begin  by  giving  a  few  hours  every  day  to  searching  the  sacred 
letters  :  first,  in  Greek,  the  New  Testament  and  the  Epistles  of  the 
Apostles;  and  then,  in  Hebrew,  the  Old  Testament."  Rabelais,  Lettre 
de  Gargantua  a  son  fils  Pantagruel.  This  letter  is  a  little  manifesto  of 
French  humanism. 

5  Paraclesis,  torn.  V,  p.  140.  See  Erasmus'  Commentaries  on  the  New 
Testament,  Opera,  torn.  VII. 


tmmanist  influence  57 

Fathers  and  the  commentators.  He  blamed  Lefevre  of 
Etaples  for  leaving-  out  the  traditional  explanations  in  his 
edition  of  the  Psalms.  Hence  he  does  not  demand  an  uncon- 
ditional freedom  of  interpretation,  for  he  knows  that  it  is  often 
restricted,  and  principally  by  the  dogmatic  definitions  of  the 
Church.  But  in  questions  which  have  not  been  finally  settled 
by  ecclesiastical  authority,  Erasmus  requires  full  and  entire 
liberty.  Here  the  Christian  is  directly  and  exclusively  taught 
by  God  (#eo5t<5a/<To<j).  As  his  guide  he  has  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  enlightens  the  pure  in  heart,  and  reveals  to  them  the 
teaching  that  they  need. 

"  For,"  says  Erasmus,  "  when  we  read  the  Holy  Books, 
God  speaks  to  us  more  really  and  efficaciously  than  he  did  to 
Moses  in  the  burning  bush,  provided  that  we  come  to  hold 
converse  with  him  with  a  clean  heart.  St  Paul  calls  the 
gift  of  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  prophecy  and  not 
philosophy.  And  the  Holy  Spirit  is  certainly  the  origin  of 
prophecy. 

"  Thou  must  therefore  prepare  thy  heart  for  this  Spirit, 
that  thou  too  mayst  deserve  to  be  called  by  the  prophetic 
epithet  (i.e.,  taught  of  God).  Let  thine  eye  of  faith  be  as 
simple  as  that  of  the  dove,  which  can  see  naught  but  heavenly 
truths.  And  let  thy  desire  of  instruction  be  immense  !  .  .  . 
When  thou  lightest  upon  any  passage  of  special  edification, 
kiss  it  and  worship  it.  .  .  .  Thou  wilt  do  thus  with  more 
devotion  when  thou  preparest  thyself  to  receive  the  mysterious 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whatever  thou  understandest, 
receive  it  with  delight ;  whatever  is  hidden  from  thee,  that 
worship  with  simple  faith,  and  venerate  it  from  afar.  Away 
with  all  impious  curiosity  I"1 

Here  we  reach  the  central  point  of  the  mysticism  of  the 
Christian  humanists.  The  Christian  who  reads  the  Bible  is 
given  a  sort  of  personal  inspiration  to  enable  him  to  under- 
stand it.  Here  it  is  not  only  a  case  of  such  "  inspirations  " 
or  pious  suggestions  as  grace  arouses  in  us  when  we  are 
praying  or  making  an  edifying  reading.  It  is  God  himself 
who  instructs  the  clean  of  heart,  who  is  free  from  the  bonds 
of  sin,  so  that  he  has  no  need  to  have  recourse  to  ecclesiastical 
teaching  in  those  questions  that  have  not  been  finally  settled 
by  the  Church.  Piety  is  something  altogether  inward,  abso- 
lutely spiritual. 

This  doctrine  is  partly  the  result  of  the  humanist  reaction 
from  the  theology  of  the  time  and  against  the  too  external 
and  formalist  religion  of  the  crowd.  It  also  depends,  like 
their  philosophy,  upon  their  tendency  to  seek  for  the  rules 
of  the  Christian  life  in   immediate  spiritual  communications 

1  Ratio  .  .  .  ferveniendi ,  torn.  V,  pp.  76-77.  Cf.  Paraclesis,  ibid., 
pp.  143-144- 


58  Gbrtstlan  Spirituality 

with  God  rather  than  in  the  direction  of  the  theologians. 
This  is  quite  an  old  tendency  which  we  have  already  met  with 
in  many  of  the  medieval  mystics.  At  the  time  of  the  Renais- 
sance it  was  accentuated  beyond  measure.  The  authority  of 
the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  was  weakened  by  it,  and  the 
notion  of  the  Church  somewhat  impaired.  Lefevre  of  Etaples, 
the  most  mystical  of  the  Christian  humanists,  in  the  Preface 
of  his  Psalter1  expresses  himself  in  regard  to  this  subject  in 
terms  which  suggest  an  idea  of  private  inspiration.  His  doc- 
trinal audacities  brought  upon  him  the  censures  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  despite  the  protection  of  Francis  I,  and  Luther  gave 
his  name  as  an  authority. 

The  preference  of  the  humanists  for  the  spiritual  and 
allegorical  sense  of  Scripture  is  also  a  consequence  of  their 
mysticism.  What  God  teaches  those  who  meditate  on  the 
sacred  text  is  to  live  holily.  But  it  is  the  spiritual  sense  that 
chiefly  contains  this  science  of  sanctity.  The  literal  sense 
is  the  flesh  of  Scripture,  the  symbolical  sense  is  its  spirit.2 

Erasmus  ventures  to  say  that  often  Scripture,  when  taken 
literally,  without  any  endeavour  to  discover  its  allegorical 
meaning,  is  no  more  edifying  than  a  poetical  fable,  and  he 
quotes  by  way  of  proof  certain  passages  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.3 The  mystical  interpretation,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
always  sanctifying.  Moreover,  it  is  infinite  in  its  variety 
according  to  the  needs  of  the  reader.  It  fills  sinners  with 
fear,  and  the  just  with  a  greater  love  of  virtue.  The  same 
Spirit  suggests  to  everyone  what  he  requires.  Furthermore, 
Scripture  is  sterile,  if  the  hidden  meaning  be  not  found 
therein  beneath  the  rind  of  the  letter,  for  it  is  that  which 
must  chiefly  be  examined  and  meditated  on.4 

This  too  exclusive  inquiry  into  the  allegorical  meaning 
made  the  humanists  undervalue  the  primary  importance  of 
the  literal  sense.  How  did  such  conscientious  editors  of  the 
sacred  text  come  to  such  a  point  as  this?  Their  reaction 
from  the  religion  of  the  crowd  quite  as  much  as  their 
mysticism  carried  them  too  far.  Erasmus,  in  his  Enchiridion,5 
brings    a    really    ridiculous    charge    against   the    literal    and 

1  Psalterium  quincuplex  .  .  .  cum  commentariis  a  Jacobo  Fabro, 
Parisiis,   1513,  Praefatio. 

2  Erasmus,  Enchiridion,  cap.  viii,  5  :  Proinde  ubique  contempta 
came  Scripturae,  maxime  Veteris  Testamenti,  spiritus  mysticum  rimari 
conveniet.  .  .  .  Habet  Evangelium  carnem  suam,  habet  et  spiritum, 
torn.  V,  pp.  29-30. 

3  Enchiridion,  cap.  viii,  5  :  At  si  citra  allegoriam  legeris,  infantes 
in  utero  colluctantes,  vendito  pulmento  primogenita,  benedictionem 
patris  dolo  praereptam,  Goliath  funda  David  ictum,  Samsoni  derasum 
capillum,  non  ita  magni  refert  quam  si  poeticum  legas  pigmentum. 

*  ibid.  Hugh  of  Palma  teaches  that  the  gift  of  discovering  the 
allegorical  sense  of  Scripture  is  granted  to  those  who  have  entered 
upon  the  illuminative  way. 

6  Cap.  viii,  5. 


fmmantet  influence  59 

"  carnal  "  sense  of  Scripture,  which  is  adhered  to  by  those 
who  materialize  religion.  Lefevre  of  Etaples  constantly 
opposes  "  the  literal-spiritual  sense,"  which  he  favours,  to  the 
"  literal-vulgar  sense,"  which  he  blackens.  The  first  is  what 
we  have  to  find  out.  It  is  that  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has 
concealed  beneath  the  literal  sense;  it  is  revealed  only  to 
those  who  are  able  to  understand  things  divine  in  a  non- 
carnal  way.  To  discover  it,  we  have  only  to  trust  to  the 
help  of  divine  inspiration.1 


Christian  humanism,  as  we  know,  was  discredited  by  the 
claim  of  Protestantism  to  regard  it  as  a  forerunner.  If  the 
fruits  were  evil,  then  the  tree  cannot  have  been  very  good. 
Thus  the  humanism  of  Erasmus  and  Lefevre  is  judged  rather 
severely  by  most  Catholic  historians.  It  helped  letters, 
but  was  hurtful  to  religion. 

This  judgement  would  certainly  have  seemed  unjust  to  any 
devout  person  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  At 
that  time  the  little  devotional  books  by  Erasmus  and  Lefevre's 
commentaries  on  the  Psalms  and  on  the  Epistles  of  St  Paul 
were  providing  spiritual  edification.  Every  educated  Christian 
carried  in  his  pocket  Erasmus'  The  Christian  Knight's  Manual 
or  his  Preparation  for  a  Good  Death.2  They  were  used  for 
meditations,  and  many  found  in  them  arms  for  waging  vic- 
torious warfare  against  the  paganism  of  the  Renaissance. 
The  spiritual  treasures  of  Scripture  were  brought  within 
the  reach  of  the  majority  in  the  scriptural  works  of  the 
humanists.  Real  inward  devotion  was  thus  stirred  up. 
Many  sincerely  believed  that  the  long  expected  reformation  was 
taking  place.  Lefevre's  followers,  who  formed  what  has  been 
called  "  the  cenacle  of  Meaux,"  were  quite  convinced  of  it.3 

What  still  further  contributed  to  keeping  up  the  illusion 
was  the  startling  rupture  that  broke  out  between  the 
humanists  and  Luther  after  1520.  The  latter  wanted  people 
to  think  that  his  work  was  the  continuation  and  the  full 
flowering  of  that  of  Lefevre  and  Erasmus.  But  after  the 
solemn  condemnation  of  Luther  by  Leo  X  in  1520,  one  of 
Lefevre's  disciples,  Josse  van  Clichtove,  published  his  Anti- 
Luther  in  1524.  In  1525  Erasmus  upheld  free-will  against 
Luther,  in  a  controversy  that  stirred  up  the  whole  of  Europe. 4 

1  Lefevre.  Prefaces  to  the  Psalterium  and  to  the  Commentarii  initia- 
torii  in  quattuor  Evangelia,  Meldis,   1522. 

2  It  was  commonly  said  that  Erasmus  tried  cum  elegantia  litterarum 
fietatis  christianae  sinceritatem  copulare. 

3  F.  Mourret,  ibid.,  tome  V,  p.  400. 

*  Cf.  Andre  Meyer,  Etude  critique  sur  les  relations  d'Erasme  et  de 
Luther,  Paris,  1909.  It  must,  however,  be  observed  that  several  of  the 
humanists  went  over  to  the  Protestant  Reformation,  and,  among  others, 
Farel,  who  became  an  auxiliary  of  Calvin. 


60  Cbrfstfan  Spirituality 

Thomas  More  had  already  written  his  Vindicatio  Henrici 
VIII  a  calumniis  Lutheri1  in  1523.  Hence  humanism  tried 
to  dissociate  its  cause  from  that  of  Protestantism. 

Would  it  have  been  able  to  work  this  real  reformation 
which  was  so  much  desired  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages? 
It  is  most  unlikely. 

True  reformation  means  returning-  to  the  old  discipline 
after  it  has  been  adapted  to  the  new  needs.  The  humanists 
well  embodied  the  aspirations  of  their  times,  but  they  despised 
the  customs  of  the  ages  which  had  gone  before  them.  Their 
great  weakness  was  in  breaking  clean  away  from  the  rules 
of  the  hated  Middle  Ages,  in  which  they  could  find  no  good 
at  all.  This  romanticism  was  of  use  to  literature,  but  its 
help  to  the  cause  of  religion  was  only  indifferent.  Bossuet, 
the  preacher  of  tradition,  speaks  of  it  somewhat  disdainfully  : 

"  Indeed  there  is  no  one,"  says  he,  "  who  does  not  want 
to  laugh  as  soon  as  he  sees  an  Erasmus  and  a  (Richard) 
Simon,  on  the  strength  of  their  superiority  in  letters  and  in 
languages,  thrusting  in  to  decide  between  St  Jerome  and 
St  Augustine,  and  to  award  the  prize  as  they  please  for  the 
sound  knowledge  of  sacred  things.  You  would  say  that  it 
all  depends  on  the  knowledge  of  Greek,  and  that  to  shake 
off  one's  illusions  about  St  Thomas,  it  is  enough  to  remark 
that  he  lived  in  a  barbarous  age ;  as  if  the  apostles'  style 
were  highly  polished,  or  as  if  the  fine  speaking  of  Latin  made 
a  man  advance  in  the  deeper  knowledge  of  sacred  things."2 

Another  obstacle  to  true  reformation  arose  from  a  far  too 
flattering  idea  of  human  nature  and  its  so-called  inherent 
goodness,  which  the  humanists  discovered  in  their  study  of 
classical  antiquity.  Their  antipathy  for  Augustinian  pes- 
simism is  easily  understood.  But  between  such  pessimism 
and  their  optimism  there  is  the  mean  of  St  Thomas  Aquinas. 
If  we  must  not  depreciate  the  nature  of  fallen  man  we  must 
not  forget  that  it  is  in  a  state  of  revolt  against  divine  law 
and  that  it  must  be  held  in  check.  The  Christian  humanist 
does  indeed  accept  mortification,  but  only  in  moderation.3 
Erasmus  considered  the  austerities  of  the  saints  blameworthy. 
They  did  not  square  with  his  ideal  of  the  honest  Christian 
who  no  doubt  mortifies  his  passions,  prays,  and  submits  to 
external  practices,  but  never  goes  beyond  the  limits  of  a  nice 
moderation.  Such  is  not  the  programme  put  forward  by  the 
saints  who  were  the  great  reformers  of  their  own  times. 
The  dilettante  is  never  a  real  man  of  action.     Erasmus  taught 

1  H.  Bremond,  Le  Bienheureux  Thomas  More,  p.  95. 

2  Defense  de  la  Tradition  et  des  saints  Peres,  Book  III,  chap.  xx. 

3  Erasmus,  Colloquia  familiaria,  Pietas  puerilis,  Of  era,  torn.  I, 
pp.  648-653.  This  conversation  contains  a  sort  of  programme  for  a 
young  man  to  follow  if  he  wishes  to  train  himself  in  the  Christian  life 
as  understood  by  the  humanists.     Cf.  Janssen,  II,  19-20. 


tmmantet  influence  61 

piety  in  his  books,  but  hardly  practised  it  himself.  He 
"hardly  ever  said  Mass  .  .  .  though  he  was  a  priest."1 
Indeed,  he  was  accused  of  hearing-  it  but  rarely.  Lefevre  of 
Etaples  was  more  devout,  but  his  work  was  spoilt  by  his 
individualism.  Neither  Erasmus  nor  Lefevre  were  of  the 
stuff  of  which  real  reformers  are  made. 

II— DEVOUT  HUMANISM 

Christian  humanism  is  perhaps  more  closely  related  to  the 
history  of  spirituality  by  its  spirit,  which  continued,  than  by 
its  still  considerable  influence  upon  Christian  devotion  at  the 
beginning-  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  humanist  spirit, 
inclined  to  think  favourably  of  human  nature  and  to  avoid 
humiliating  it,  and  not  to  condemn  its  inclinations  but  to 
moderate  its  impulses,  this  spirit  survived  in  spirituality 
and  became  incarnate  in  what  has  been  called  "  devout 
humanism,"  the  humanism  which  we  often  meet  with  afresh 
in  the  spirituality  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

"  Devout  humanism,"  says  M.  Henri  Bremond,  "  applies 
to  the  needs  of  the  interior  life,  and  brings  within  the  reach 
of  all  both  the  principles  and  the  spirit  of  Christian 
humanism.   .   .   . 

"  In  theology,  Christian  humanism  accepts  the  theology  of 
the  Church  purely  and  simply.  .  .  .  Without  neglecting  any 
of  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity,  it  prefers  to  bring 
into  the  light  those  that  are  the  most  comforting  and  cheer- 
ing, in  a  word  the  most  human,  which  it  further  regards  as 
the  most  divine,  and,  if  one  may  say  so,  as  the  most  in 
accord  with  infinite  goodness.  Thus  it  does  not  look  upon 
original  sin,  but  on  the  Redemption,  as  the  central  doctrine. 
.  .  .  Thus,  too,  it  does  not  question  the  need  of  grace,  but, 
far  from  measuring  it  out  parsimoniously  to  some  of  the 
predestined,  it  sees  it  freely  offered  to  all,  more  anxious  to 
reach  us  than  we  can  be  to  receive  it.   .   .   . 

"  The  humanist  does  not  regard  man  as  contemptible.  He 
is  always  and  with  all  his  heart  on  the  side  of  our  nature. 
Even  if  he  sees  it  miserable  and  impotent,  he  makes  excuses 
for  it,  he  defends  and  restores  it.  With  immovable  con- 
fidence in  the  fundamental  goodness  of  man,  his  whole  philo- 
sophy depends  upon  these  two  words."2 

1  Janssen,  V Allemagne  et  la  Reforme,  Vols.  VI-X. 

2  Histoire  littiraire  du  sentiment  religieux  en  France,  Vol.  I, 
VHumanisme  devot,  pp.  10,  n,  12,  Paris  1916.  In  this  volume  M. 
Bremond  studies  "  the  vast  movement  "  of  devout  humanism  "  from 
the  time  of  the  League  to  the  majority  of  Louis  XIV."  The  Jesuit 
Richeome  (^625),  St  Francis  de  Sales,  the  Jesuit  Etienne  Binet  (^639), 
Jean  Pierre  Camus,  Bishop  of  Belley,  the  Capuchin  Yves  de  Paris 
(11679),  are  regarded  in  it  as  the  principal  representatives  of  such 
humanism.     We  shall  meet  with  several  of  them  again. 


62  Gbrtstian  Spirituality 

Devout  humanism  is,  in  fine,  the  humanism  of  Erasmus 
and  Lefevre,  but  wiser,  more  orthodox  and  more  sincerely 
religious.  It  does  not  criticize  as  much,  at  any  rate,  the 
clergy  and  the  monks.  It  is  less  disdainful  of  the  Middle 
Ag-es,  and  yet  hardly  succeeds,  apparently,  in  liking  them. 
It  grew  side  by  side  with  the  Reformation,  and  by  its 
optimistic  estimate  of  human  nature  was  a  permanent  protest 
against  Lutheran  Manichaeism.  St  Francis  de  Sales  smiled 
upon  such  humanism,  so  that  many  rightly  regard  him  as  the 
greatest  of  the  devout  humanists. 

The  Bishop  of  Geneva  showed,  at  all  events,  that  he  could 
avoid  exaggerations.  For  devout  humanism,  as  understood 
by  some,  is  not  altogether  above  reproach.  Did  it  not 
humanize  devotion  too  much?  Did  it  not,  of  set  purpose, 
shut  its  eyes  to  the  imperfections  of  fallen  man?  Certain  it 
is  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  there 
was  a  reaction  against  it  in  France,  which  was  afterwards 
pushed  to  extremes  by  the  Jansenists. 


CHAPTER    IV 

PROTESTANT  MYSTICISM  —  THE  REACTION  WHICH  IT 
STIMULATED  AGAINST  SEVERAL  MYSTICAL  WRITERS 
OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

PROTESTANTISM  is  due,  at  least  in  part,  to  the 
spiritual  crisis  in  the  soul  of  a  monk  who  broke 
his  vows.1 
Overcome  by  his  passions,  Luther  asserted  that 
they  were  irresistible.  According-  to  him,  con- 
cupiscence, the  effect  of  man's  first  fall,  is  absolutely 
invincible ;  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  subjugate  it.  From 
this  principle  he  deduced,  with  the  vigorous  dialectics  which 
he  possessed  from  his  Aristotelian  training,  the  whole  of  his 
theological  system. 

This  moral  crisis  in  one  man's  experience  is  not  enough  to 
account  for  the  immensity  of  the  religious  revolution  which 
it  brought  about.  It  was  but  the  spark  which  set  the  huge 
fire  ablaze,  the  drop  of  water  which  made  the  vessel  over- 
flow. If  Luther  carried  away  with  him  in  his  rebellion  such 
a  great  number  of  the  faithful  and  of  monks  and  priests,  it 
is  because  he  preached  to  an  audience  thoroughly  prepared 
to  listen  to  him,  for  many  of  them  were  already,  though  un- 
consciously, practising  the  doctrines  which  he  was  bold 
enough  to  propound. 

Humanism  had  accentuated  to  the  highest  degree  the  oppo- 
sition between  the  allurement  of  the  passions  and  Christian 
asceticism.  It  had  stripped  the  veil  from  pagan  humanity 
and  elicited  new  aspirations,  a  thirst  for  enjoyment.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  had  somewhat  discredited  traditional  asceticism 
by  its  contempt  for  the  Middle  Ages  and  its  mordant  sarcasms 
about  the  monks.  The  incongruity  between  the  demands  of 
nature,  intensified  by  the  Renaissance,  and  the  moral  restraints 
required  by  Christianity  became  more  and  more  flagrant  and 
vexatious  to  many  people.  It  could  not  go  on  much  longer. 
If  only  a  false  prophet  were  to  arise  and  teach  a  new  gospel, 
in  which  resistance  to  the  passions  was  not  required,  his 
success  was  certain. 

Such  a  false   prophet  was    Luther.      With  a   mind   richly 

1  The  causes  of  Protestantism  are  numerous  and  complex.  I  dwell 
upon  one  of  them — Luther's  moral  crisis — because  it  has  to  do  with 
asceticism.  Cf.  Denifie,  Luther  und  Luthertum  (French  translation  by 
J.  Paquier,  Paris,  1910-1913,  4  vols.). 

63 


6 1  Cbrfstian  Spirituality 

endowed,  but  a  sensualist  by  nature,  Luther  strongly  felt  the 
influence  of  the  licentious  humanism.1  His  doctrine  was  the 
reversal  of  the  traditional  Christian  asceticism.  To  the  non 
concupisces  of  the  Decalogue  he  opposed  his  pecca  fortiter,2 
and  he  found  in  an  illusory  mysticism  means  of  salvation 
appropriate  to  his  severe  quietism. 

I  — THE  MANICH^EAN  QUIETISM  OF  LUTHER3 
AND  CALVIN  — THEIR  CONCEPTION  OF  THE 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE,  OF  DEVOTION  TO  CHRIST, 
AND  OF  THE  RELATION  OF  THE  SOUL  WITH 
GOD 

According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church,  concu- 
piscence is  a  consequence  of  original  sin  and  not  original 
sin  itself.  It  constantly  inclines  us  to  evil  in  all  its  forms, 
but  not  invincibly.  It  may  be  dominated  and  mastered  by 
the  will  with  the  help  of  grace.  Its  impulses  do  not  make 
personal  sins,  unless  they  are  elicited  or  accepted  by  the  will 
which  remains  the  master  of  its  own  acts. 

Luther,  on  the  contrary,  taught  that  concupiscence  is 
original  sin  itself.  The  spontaneous  and  totally  involuntary 
'  impulses  of  concupiscence  are  actual  sins  and  always  grave 
sins.  And  since  these  impulses  are  inevitable,  man  is  neces- 
sarily a  sinner.  But  God  does  not  impute  the  sin  of  con- 
cupiscence to  those  who   call   upon  him   and   have   faith   in 


t 


1  L.  Pastor,  Histoire  des  Rapes,  I,  31. 

2  Esto  feccator  et  pecca  fortiter,  sed  fortius  crede  et  gaude  in  Christo, 
qui  victor  est  peccati,  mortis  et  mundi.  Peccandum  est  quam  diu  sic 
sumus ;  vita  haec  non  est  habitatio  justitiae. — Enders,  Dr.  Martin 
Luther's  Briefwechsel,  III,  208. 

3  Editions  of  Luther's  Works,  Jena,  1556,  4  vols.  ;  Halle,  1743-1757, 
24  vols.  ;  Erlangen,  1826-1868,  67  vols. ;  Weimar,  begun  in  1883.  De 
Wette  edited  Luther's  Correspondence,  in  6  vols.,  1825-1S56,  and  the 
publication  was  finished  in  18S4  by  Enders.  Ficker  published  the 
Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  See  Denifle,  Luther  und 
Luther  turn',  Paquier's  French  translation,  Paris,  1910-1913;  J.  Janssen, 
Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes  seit  dem  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters, 
8  vols.,  1876-1894,  translated  by  E.  Paris,  VAllemagne  et  la  Reforme, 
Paris,  1887-1907;  Dollinger,  Die  Reformation,  ihre  innere  Entwicklung 
und  ihre  Wirkungen,  3  vols.,  1846-1848,  translated  by  E.  Perrot,  La 
Reforme,  son  diveloppement  intirieur  et  les  resultats  quelle  a  produits, 
Paris,  184S-1849;  H.  Grisar,  S.J.,  Luther,  Freiburg  im  Breisgau, 
1911  ff.  ;  F.  Mourret,  Histoire  gen.  de  VEglise,  Vol.  V,  pp.  275  ff .  ; 
Georges  Goyau,  L Allemagne  religieuse,  Vol.  I ;  L.  Christiani,  Luther 
et  le  Lutheranisme,  Paris,  1908. 

On  Calvin's  doctrine:  L' Institution  chritienne ;  the  Confession  de 
foi  de  Geneve  of  1537;  the  Confession  de  foi  des  iglises  de  France  o< 
1559.  See  the  Corpus  Reformatorum  .  .  .  Joannis  Calvini  opera  qua* 
supersunt  omnia,  Brunswick,  1860-1900,  torn.  IX,  XXII ;  Diet,  dt 
thiol,  cath.,  art.  Calvini sme. 

On  Melanchthon,  see  his  works  in  the  Corpus  Reformatorum. 


Protestant  flDvsttcism  65 

him  and  yearn  for  deliverance.  Thus  we  are  sinners,  in 
fact,  and  nevertheless  justified  by  faith.1  By  faith  Christ's 
justice  is  imputed  to  us,  for  he  has  fulfilled  the  law  in  our 
stead. 

Works  are  radically  incapable  of  curing  us  of  the  evil  of 
concupiscence,  since  we  know  from  experience  that  whatever 
good  we  do,  concupiscence  still  remains  in  us.  Further,  our 
passions  are  as  untamable  as  Cerberus,  as  invincible  as 
Antaeus.2  Free  will  is  dead,3  and  man's  will  is  irremediably 
subject  to  his  passions. 

Thus  Adam's  fall  introduced  an  evil  principle  into  man's 
nature,  a  predominant  and  compelling-  principle.  Fallen  man 
is  doomed  to  evil.  Luther  thought  that  he  found  this  doc- 
trine in  St  Paul  and  in  St  Augustine.4 


From  this  Manichaean  conception  of  fallen  humanity  Luther 
deduced  his  false  mysticism.      Here  are  its  main  principles  : 

Since  the  passions  cannot  be  mastered,  it  is  useless  to 
engage  in  striving  against  them  : 

"  Who  knows  not,"  says  Luther,  "  that  this  household 
and  interior  tyrant  which  abides  in  our  members  is  no  more 
under  the  power  of  our  wills  than  the  bad  will  of  an  external 
tyrant?  And  further,  thou  canst  appease  the  latter  by  flatter- 
ing speeches  and  bring  him  to  thine  own  way  of  thinking  ; 

1  Luther,  Commentary  on  the  Romans,  Ficker,  II,  107-108  ;  Peccatum 
autem  ipsa  passio,  fomes  et  concupisceniia,  sive  pronitas  ad  malu?n  et 
difficultas  ad  bonum  .  .  .  opera  peccati  (peccata  actualia)  fructus  sunt 
hujus  peccati.  Hoc  malum,  cum  sit  revera  peccatum,  quod  Deus  re- 
mittit  per  suam  non  imputationem  ex  misericordia  omnibus,  qui  ipsum 
{peccatum)  agnoscunt  et  confitentur  [Deo]  et  odiunt  et  ab  eo  sanari 
petunt  .  .  .  Sic  ergo  in  nobis  sumus  peccatores,  et  tamen  reputante 
Deo  justi  per  fidem.  Cf.  Ficker,  II,  117,  118.  Luther  wrote  this  Com- 
mentary in  1515-1516,  at  the  time  of  his  spiritual  crisis  and  defection. 

!  Commentary  on  the  Romans,  Ficker,  II,  145  :  Hie  [fomes  peccati~\ 
Cerberus,  latrator  incompescibilis  et  Anthaeus  in  terra  demissus  in- 
superabilis.  Sometimes,  with  some  inconsistency,  Luther  advises  us 
to  strive  against  the  evil  tendencies  of  our  nature.  Cf.  Grisar,  Luther, 
I,  86  ff. 

3  Liberum  arbitrium  est  mortuum.  Opera  Lutheri,  Weimar,  I,  360. 
See  the  treatise,  De  servo  arbitrio,  Weimar,  XVIII.  Despite  his  funda- 
mental theory  of  the  servile  will,  Luther  contradicted  himself  and 
sometimes  affirmed  the  possibility  of  resisting  one's  passions.  Grisar, 
ibid.  No  doubt  these  contradictions  arose  from  Luther's  fear,  which 
was  the  result  of  the  great  corruption  of  morals  caused  by  his  gospel. 
The  same  doctrine  appears  in  Calvin's  Inst,  christ.  Book  II,  chap,  i  ff. 

*  On  Luther's  misuse  of  certain  passages  of  St  Augustine,  see  Denifie- 
Paquier,  op.  cit.,  II,  pp.  398  ff.  ;  III,  29  ff.  and  271  ff.  Luther  wrongly 
thought  that  Gerard  of  Zutphen,  who  wrote  the  Tractatus  de  spirituali- 
bus  ascensionibus,  interpreted  the  consequences  of  original  sin  as  he 
did  (Commentary  on  the  Romans,  Ficker,  II,  145).  Gerard  is  strongly 
influenced  by  Augustinian  pessimism,  but  falls  far  short  of  Luther's 
position. 

III.  K 


66  Cbristiau  Spirituality 

whereas   that   tyrant   within    thee    thou    canst    not    tame   by 
fair  words  nor  by  the  most  laborious  efforts."1 

Thus  are  man's  evil  instincts  unloosed  from  all  restraint. 
The  Lutheran  doctrine,  like  that  of  the  medieval  Beghards 
and,  later  on,  of  Molinos,  ended,  although  by  different  paths, 
in  the  destruction  of  morality.  An  unbridled  corruption  of 
morals  followed  upon  the  preaching  of  the  new  gospel.2 
Luther  was  among  the  first  to  give  an  example  of  life  which 
was  the  reverse  of  edifying.3  The  efforts  he  made  after- 
wards, when  contradicting  himself,  by  advising  men  to  resist 
their  passions,  proved  vain. 

Thus  the  principles  of  Luther  led  to  a  most  radical  kind 
of  quietism. 

In  the  work  of  salvation  all  human  activity  had  to  be  got 
rid  of.  There  was  to  be  no  inward  act,  such  as  the  act  of 
repentance  of  one's  sins,  in  order  to  return  to  God.  External 
acts,  such  as  confession  and  the  reception  of  the  sacraments, 
were  also  useless.  Faith  was  enough.  Having  faith,  the 
sinner  need  do  nothing  but  maintain  a  purely  passive  attitude, 
and  Christ's  justice  will  be  imputed  to  him,  and  he  will  be 
justified.  4 

We  need  not  pray.  What  is  the.  use  of  praying  since 
man's  will  is  inevitably  bound  to  evil?  And  so  Luther, 
though  sometimes  acknowledging  the  profitableness  of  a 
certain  sort  of  prayer,  does  not  prescribe  any  prayer.5  He 
even  scoffed  at  having  recourse  to  prayer  in  temptation. 6 

But  what  the  reformer  condemned  with  especial  violence 
was  the  monastic  profession.  According  to  him,  vows  are 
bad.  The  vow  of  chastity  was  what  exasperated  him  most. 
Is  it  not  a  resistance,  and  even  a  rebellion,  against  man's 
natural  instincts,  and  therefore  against  divine  order?7 

Luther  and  Melanchthon,  the  better  to  discredit  vows, 
particularly    attacked    "monastic    baptism" — i.e.,    the    so- 

1  Lutheri  opera,  Weimar,  VIII,  631  ;  Denifle-Paquier,  I,   173. 

2  About  1532  Luther  wrote  :  "  Scarce  had  we  begun  to  preach  our 
Gospel  when  a  terrible  rebellion  broke  out  in  the  country,  schisms  and 
sects  in  the  Church,  and  everywhere  an  utter  downfall  of  honesty, 
morality,  and  good  order.  .  .  .  Licentiousness  and  all  forms  of  vice 
and  filthiness,  in  every  rank  of  life,  are  carried  on  much  more  to-day 
than  they  ever  were  under  popery."  Opera,  Halle,  V,  114;  Dollinger, 
Die  Reformation,  Perrot's  translation,  I,  291.  Cf.  Denifle-Paquier,  op. 
cit.  II,  106  ff. 

8  From  the  time  of  his  apostasy,  Luther  is  remarkable  for  his  obscene 
conversation  and  writings.  Some  passages  of  his  Works  are  so  scanda 
lous  and  outrageous,  from  the  point  of  view  of  morals,  that  the 
historians  who  quote  them  do  not  dare  to  translate  them  from  Latin 
into  living  languages.     Cf.  Denifle-Paquier,  op.  cit.,  I,  30,  etc. 

4  Commentary  on  the  Romans,  Ficker,  II,  219,  203;  Denifle-Paquier, 
III,  262. 

6  id.,  Ficker,  II,  206. 

8  Opera,  Weimar,  VIII,  631.     Denifle-Paquier,  I,  184  ff. 

7  De  votis  monasticis,  Lutheri  opera,   Ienae,   1600,  torn.   II,  p.   510b. 


Iprotestant  /H>£Sttcfsm  67 

called  equality  claimed  by  certain  Catholic  writers,  so  far 
as  emcacity  is  concerned,  between  the  sacrament  of  Baptism 
and  the  Profession  of  the  religious.1  The  writers  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  however,  did  not  teach  this  equality.2  Never- 
theless, certain  propositions  might  be  found  here  and  there, 
put  forward  by  monks  who  were  formalists,  tending  to 
lead  people  to  believe  that  the  profession  of  the  religious 
worked  a  man's  salvation,  even  if  he  did  not  live  according  to 
its  requirements.3  Luther  takes  unfair  advantage  of  this  to 
argue  that  the  Middle  Ages  had  corrupted  the  notion  of  the 
monastic  life. 

So,  too,  does  Luther  sometimes  come  across  gibes  in 
Catholic  writers  who  had  somewhat  severely  bantered  the 
formalism  of  such  religious — who  were  then  rather  too 
common — as  did  not  take  pains  to  live  in  keeping  with  the 
state  of  their  vocation.  He  relies  on  this  to  affirm  that 
these  writers  have  decried  the  religious  state  and  lowered 
the  importance  of  the  vows.  Luther  incessantly  strives  to 
connect  his  theories  with  the  teaching  of  early  writers  to  give 
them  a  traditional  air.4  And  how  he  exaggerates  for  this 
purpose ! 


If  man  is  incapable  of  all  goodness  and  if  he  is  in  himself 
incurably  sinful,  his  justification  can  only  be  external  to 
himself  and  purely  "  nominalist."5  He  is  just  because 
Christ's  justice  covers  him  and  hides  his  spiritual  iniquities 
from  God's  sight.  But  his  iniquities  remain  and  are  not 
destroyed. 

The  true  interior  life  could  not,  therefore,  exist  within 
us.     According  to  the  Reformers,  Christ  was  no  longer  the 

1  Article  XXVII  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg. 

-  Denifie-Paquier,  I,  353-354;  II,  17  ff.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church 
sometimes  called  the  profession  of  a  monk  a  second  Baptism :  Vitae 
Patrum  (P.L.,  LXIII,  994);  St  Jerome,  Epist.,  39,  3  and  130,  7  (id., 
XXII,  468,  1113);  St  Peter  Damian,  Opusc,  16,  8  [id.,  CXLV,  376); 
St  Bernard,  Sermo  XI  de  diver  sis,  3 ;  De  praecepto  et  dispens., 
cap.  xvii  (id.,  CLXXXIII,  570;  CLXXXII,  889).  The  expression 
Second  Baptism  is  grounded  on  the  entire  renunciation  of  the  world 
implied  in  the  monastic  profession.  This  renews  and  completes 
the  renunciation  of  the  devil  and  the  world  which  is  promised  at 
Baptism.  Medieval  theologians  taught  further,  that  religious  profes- 
sion might  remit  all  penalties  due  to  sin.  St  Thomas,  2a  2ae, 
Q.  clxxxix,  art.  3. 

s  Particularly  did  Matthew  Grabon  exaggerate  the  value  of  the 
religious  state,  as  John  Gerson  blames  him  for  doing  (Gersonii  opera 
omnia,  I,  473  ff.). 

1  Thus,  in  article  XXVII  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  the  testi- 
mony of  Gerson  is  alleged,  as  if  he  had  depreciated  the  religious  state 
in  his  refutation  of   Matthew  Grabon.     Luther  liked  Gerson. 

5  On  Luther  and  Occam,  the  head  of  the  Nominalists  (Weimar,  VI, 
195),  see  Denifie-Paquier,  III,  191  ff. 


68  Cbristian  Spirituality 

life  of  our  soul ;  he  is  not  in  us.  His  Spirit  no  longer 
animates  us.  All  our  justice  and  all  of  our  spiritual  life 
are  outside  of  us.  St  Paul's  saying-,  Christ  is  my  life,  has 
no  meaning  in  it.  When  the  Protestant  mystic  practises 
recollection  and  goes  into  the  innermost  depths  of  his  soul, 
there  he  finds  no  God,  no  virtue,  nor  any  kind  of  good.  This 
depth  of  the  soul,  this  inviolable  sanctuary  of  Catholic  mystics 
in  which  they  love  to  take  refuge  when  the  tempest  of 
temptation  howls  without,  this  deepest  depth  of  the  soul  is 
always  in  the  Protestant's  eyes  filled  with  iniquity.  How 
then  is  he  to  enjoy  the  inward  and  sweet  delights  of  a  good 
conscience?  Never  before  had  such  a  disheartening  doctrine 
been  propounded  ! 

And  nevertheless,  the  Reformers  were  greedy  for  consola- 
tions. Like  the  mystics,  they  felt  a  great  need  of  sanctifica- 
tion  and  of  intimate  union  with  Christ.  They  wanted  to 
feel  that  they  were  justified  and  beloved  of  God.  Was  not 
this  thirst  for  the  certainty  of  his  own  justification  the  cause 
of  Luther's  torment  in  the  depths  of  his  cloister  at  Witten- 
berg?1 The  acquisition  of  such  certainty  became  even  one  of 
the  chief  aims  of  the  revolution  which  he  sought  to  effect  in 
the  Catholic  doctrine  of  justification. 

For,  according  to  Luther,  it  is  by  faith  that  man  gets  the 
assurance  of  his  justification.  "It  is  certain  beyond  all 
certainty  that  he  is  pleasing  to  God,  that  God  is  favourable 
to  him  and  forgives  all  the  evil  that  he  has  done.  .  .  .  What, 
indeed,  were  faith,  if  it  were  not  such  a  conviction  as  this?"2 
Thus  Luther  taught  the  identity  of  faith  and  justification. 
He  claimed  to  deduce  this  doctrine  from  his  own  mystical 
experiences.  He  thought  that  he  had  an  experimental  know- 
ledge of  his  union  with  Christ ;  he  believed  that  he  felt  in 
his  own  heart  the  faith  that  saves  and  that  he  was  perfectly 
sure  that  he  pleased  God. 3 

Calvin  went  still  further  and  declared  that  we  ought  to  be 
certain   of  our  eternal   salvation,   because   sanctifying  grace 


i  '< 


Was  it  not  .  .  .  the  profound  accent,  the  penetrating  charm  of  the 
most  kindly  German  mystics,  which  inspired  Luther's  pages  when  he 
wrote  of  the  love  of  God,  describing  the  happiness  of  the  soul  united 
with  Jesus  Christ  with  the  ring  of  faith  as  a  bride  is  united  with  her 
bridegroom?  (Jurgens,  Luther's  Leben,  Vol.  I,  p.  577).  This  feeling 
of  man's  decadence,  of  his  need  of  sanctification,  this  conviction  that 
salvation  comes  not  of  works,  but  only  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  this 
appeal  to  the  interior  spirit  and  to  the  sole  testimony  of  conscience ; 
had  they  not  something  strangely  powerful  and  seductive,  especially 
for  those  who  had  serious  grievances  against  the  clergy,  and  were 
tempted  by  a  host  of  national  prejudices  to  turn  away  from  the  Roman 
Church?  .  .  ."  Baudrillart,  LEglise  catholique,  la  Renaissance,  le 
Protestantisme,  pp.   128-129. 

2  Weimar,  V,  395. 

3  On  this  certainty  of  justification  according  to  Luther,  see  Denifle- 
Paquier,  III,  428  ff. 


fl>rotestant  /iBvstfdsm  69 

cannot  be  lost  by  those  who  are  predestined.  A  rigid  pre- 
destinarianism,  antecedent  to  creation  and  to  the  fall, 
governs  the  whole  of  the  Calvinistic  system.  Amongst  man- 
kind, some  are  destined  to  hell,  the  others  to  heaven.  The 
elect  are  assured  of  their  own  salvation  ;  they  can  never  lose 
their  justification  :  he  who  is  once  justified  is  justified  for 
ever.  The  important  thing  is  to  believe  firmly  that  we  are 
justified  by  the  imputation  of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.1 

The  opposition  between  these  fantastical  views  of  the  Re- 
formers and  true  mysticism  is  plain. 

The  certainty  of  salvation  was  never  sought  with  such 
insistence  by  the  medieval  mystics.2  They  tell  us,  no  doubt, 
that  at  the  time  of  their  supernatural  union  with  God,  they 
feel  that  the  divine  is  within  them  beyond  any  possible 
doubt.  They  would  gladly  permanently  enjoy  this  sweet 
certainty.  But  thev  know  that  such  phenomena  are  transitory 
and  intermittent.  More  often  are  the  mystics  liable  to  experi- 
ence interior  desolation ;  and  they  sometimes  believe  that 
they  are  abandoned  by  God.  They  are  even  assailed  by  an 
agonizing  fear  that  they  are  not  saved.  No  spiritual  state, 
however  perfect  and  extraordinary  it  be,  carries  with  it  the 
certainty,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  of  salvation.  The 
mystics,  like  ordinary  mortals,  can  have  no  other  permanent 
and  habitual  mental  condition  than  that  of  an  entire  and 
pacifying  trust  in  the  mercy  of  God  and  in  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  power  and  effectiveness  of  the 
sacraments.3 


This  so-called  certainty  of  salvation,  which  is  the  only 
spiritual  consolation  of  the  Reformers,  was  also  the  sole 
ground  of  their  devotion  to  Christ. 

What  matters  it  to  Luther  that  there  are  two  natures  in 
Christ,  and  that  all  perfections  are  found  together  in  him? 
The  thing  that  matters,  in  his  eyes,  is  the  fact  that  Christ 
became  his  Saviour  and  Redeemer  and  is  delivering  him 
from  his  sins.4  Melanchthon,  too,  says  that  to  know  Christ 
"  means  to  know  his  blessings,  and  not,  as  [the  Scholastics] 
assert,    to   meditate  on  his   natures  and  the  possible   modes 

1  Cf.  Institutio  Christiana,  Book  III,  chap,  xxi-xxiv. 

2  Harnack,  Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte,  III,  759,  appears  to 
believe  that  Luther,  by  his  doctrine  of  the  certainty  of  salvation, 
corresponded  with  the  tendencies  of  the  medieval  mystics.  But  he 
adds  that  Luther  "  has  surpassed  mysticism."  I  quite  believe  it  ! 
See.  too,  the  same  writer's  Das  Monchtum ,  seine  Ideale,  seine 
Geschichte,  Giessen,  1901,  in  which  similar  notions  are  set  forth  with 
regard  to  the  medieval  mystics. 

8  The  doctrine  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  Session  VI,  chap.  ix. 

*  Erlangen,  torn.  XXXV,  207  ;  LVII,  208.  M.  L.  Christiani  quotes 
many  suggestive  passages  from  Luther,  Melanchthon,  Calvin,  etc.,  in 
the  review  Regnabtt,  October-November,  1921  ;  January-Februarv,  1922. 


70  Christian  Spirituality 

of  his  Incarnation."1  Calvin  assuaged  his  spiritual  distress 
by  remembering  that  Christ's  salvation  was  for  the  elect  : 

"It  is  quite  certain,"  says  he,  ''  that  when  Christ  prayed 
for  all  the  elect  he  asked  for  them  what  he  had  asked  for 
Peter,  that  their  faith  should  not  fail.  Hence,  we  infer  that 
they  are  in  no  danger  of  falling  mortally  :  seeing  that  the 
Son  of  God,  having  demanded  that  they  should  stand  firm, 
was  not  refused  his  request.  What  did  Christ  wish  to  teach 
us  thereby  but  the  assurance  of  eternal  salvation,  since  he 
has  once  for  all  made  us  his  own  ?"2 

This  Protestant  religion  is  as  far  as  possible  from  being 
disinterested.  It  is  egoistic  and  altogether  anthropocentric. 
The  whole  of  the  plan  of  redemption  is  brought  down  to 
man's  salvation.  Do  not  ask  this  kind  of  mysticism  for 
acts  of  pure  love.  It  is  incapable  of  them.  To  pay  to  Jesus 
the  homage  of  praise  and  love,  to  which  he  is  entitled  by 
his  divine  perfections,  is  far  from  its  practice.  It  could  not 
lead  to  heroic  virtues. 


Protestant  mysticism  is  still  more  defective  when  it  has  to 
settle  the  relations  of  the  soul  with  God.  It  does  away  with 
all  intermediaries  and  with  all  government.  It  is  not  for 
Church  authority  to  determine  our  faith  nor  to  estimate 
the  worth  of  our  religious  experiences.  The  Holy  Ghost 
is  the  sole  master  and  teacher  of  everyone,  revealing  to  him 
the  meaning  of  Scripture  and  inspiring  him  as  to  what  he 
should  believe  and  do.  It  is  exclusively  in  private  inspira- 
tion and  in  direct  and  immediate  communication  with  God 
that  the  soul  finds  the  nourishment  of  its  spiritual  life. 
Luther  and  the  Reformers  did  not  shrink  from  opposing 
their  assumed  revelations  to  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
Church.3 

They  used  the  names  of  the  Christian  humanists  and  of  the 
medieval  mystics.4  These  were  accustomed  to  look  for  their 

1  Loci  communes  rerum  the ologic arum,  Praefatio,   Christiani,  ibid., 

P-  444- 

2  Institutio  Christiana,  Book  III,  chap,  xxiv,  6. 

3  Thus  Protestant  mysticism  became  illuminism.  It  showed  all  its 
excesses  in  the  sect  of  the  German  Anabaptists  in  the  case  of  Thomas 
Munzer,  who  started  the  Peasants'  War  in  1525. 

4  Luther  relies  above  all  on  the  German  mystics,  on  Meister  Eckhart 
and  his  disciples,  and  principally  on  Tauler.  The  work  entitled 
Theologia  gertnanica  also  exercised  a  great  influence  over  him.  Pierre 
d'Ailly  and  Gerson  specially  pleased  Luther,  who  asserted  that  he 
knew  all  d'Ailly's  works  by  heart.  See  the  list  of  German  mystics 
quoted  by  Luther  in  Denifle-Paquier,  Vol.  I,  and  in  Goyau,  V Alle- 
magne  religieuse.  Among  these  authors  are  many  of  little  "importance. 
Luther  also  regarded  Jerome  Savonarola  as  a  forerunner  :  "  Christ 
has  canonized  him,"  he  said,  "  because  he  relied  upon  the  meditation 


Protestant  /n>v?sticfsm  71 

leading's,  their  plans,  and  their  rules  of  life  in  their  direct 
communications  with  God  rather  than  in  the  hierarchical 
guidance  of  the  Church,  and  this  appears  to  have  exercised 
a  kind  of  fascination  over  Luther's  mind.  Taking-  certain 
passages  of  their  works  in  a  literal  sense,  he  inferred  that 
mysticism  is  above  the  laws  of  the  Church  : 

"  Here  is  a  sentence,"  he  says,  "  well  known  to  the  most 
distinguished  writers,  and  it  has  become  proverbial  in  the 
Church  :  '  Whenever  a  man  is  fulfilling  the  precepts  of  the 
Church,  if  God  raises  him  to  a  rapture  of  ecstasy  or  imparts 
to  him  a  special  illumination,  this  man  is  bound  to  break  off 
the  work  which  he  has  begun  and  to  disobey  the  Church 
It  is  better  to  obey  God  than  man.'  Writers  tell  us,  indeed, 
that  when  we  are  reciting  the  canonical  Office,  we  ought  to 
turn  our  attention  away  from  the  words  we  are  saying  despite 
the  Church's  prohibition,  if  our  soul  be  touched  by  some 
inward  illumination  or  pious  emotion."1 

The  writers  of  this  "  sentence"3  were  far  from  suspecting 
the  way  in  which  Luther  would  misuse  it.  Despite  the 
extravagance  of  their  utterances,  they  did  not  wish  to  make 
a  general  rule  of  counsels  concerning  particular  and  excep- 
tional cases.  In  the  ordinary  way,  mystics,  as  well  as  the 
common  run  of  Christians,  are  subject  to  the  laws  of  the 
Church.  But  if  a  rapture  seize  them  and  deprive  them  of  the 
use  of  their  senses,  they  are  at  the  time  incapable  of  obeying 
anyone  else  than  God.3 

Many   mystics   of   the   Middle   Ages   insistently  called   for 

of  the  Gospel  of  peace,  and  not  upon  vows  or  hoods,  on  the  Mass,  and 
on  the  Rule  "  (Cesar  Cantu,  Histoire  des  Italiens,  Vol.  VII,  p.  255, 
French  translation,  Paris,  i860. 

1  Resolutiones  disputationum  de  indidgentiarum  virtute  D.  Martini 
Lutheri  ad  Leonem  decimum  Pontif.  Maximum,  Conclusio  X,  LutJieri 
opera,  Ienae,  1612,  torn.  I,  p.  73a. 

2  John  Eck,  Luther's  famous  adversary,  attributes  it  to  Tauler 
(Joannis  Eckii,  De  Purgatorio  contra  Lutherum,  Parisiis,  1548,  lib. 
Ill,  cap.  xiii,  p.  127).  So  does  Louis  de  Blois,  Apologia  pro  D.  Joanne 
Thaulero  adversus  Joannem  Eckium  [Opera,  Antwerp,  1632,  p.  345). 
It  is  found,  with  a  slight  difference,  in  one  of  Tauler's  Sermons  (Frank- 
fort ed.),  Third  Sermon  for  the  Fifth  Sunday  after  Trinity.  Here  is 
the  passage  according  to  Sainte-Foi,  II,  236-237  :  "  He  who 
observes  closely  his  innermost  self  and  all  that  occurs  within  him 
either  from  within  or  from  without ;  he  who  is  ready  to  leave  all  with 
joy  for  God  and  to  become  recollected  in  his  own  heart,  that  man  soon 
learns  all  that  he  ought  to  do  or  to  leave  undone.  ...  If,  then,  a 
monk  or  a  nun,  while  singing  or  reading  in  choir,  felt,  by  certain  signs, 
that  God  was  calling  him  or  her  to  inward  recollection,  and  he  or  she 
were  unable  to  obey  the  call  without  stopping  work,  the  work  should 
be  stopped  at  once,  and  he  or  she  should  follow  the  inward  attraction 
and  turn  entirely  to  God."  F.  Vetter's  critical  edition  of  Tauler's 
Sermons  omits  this  one. 

3  Cf.  Louis  de  Blois,  ibid.  To  justify  Tauler,  Louis  de  Blois  speaks 
of  St  Francis  of  Assisi.  He  quotes  Henry  Harphius  recounting  certain 
facts  in  the  life  of  St  Clare  of  Assisi. 


72  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

Church  reform.  They  sometimes  ventured  to  communicate 
to  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  hierarchy  orders  believed 
to  come  from  heaven.  Their  audacities  in  behalf  of  reforms 
were  highly  pleasing-  to  Luther.  He  borrowed  authority 
from  them  to  put  forward  his  own  proposals.  But  how 
wrongly  !  For  not  a  single  Catholic  mystic  ever  called  for 
a  change  in  the  faith  or  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 
as  the  Protestants  did.  It  was  the  reformation  of  morals 
that  they  keenly  desired.1  Ecclesiastical  dogma  did  not  in 
any  way  check  the  upward  soaring  of  their  souls.  It  rather 
verified  them,  for  any  private  inspiration  can  only  be  valid 
if  it  be  in  harmony  therewith.  And  when  the  ecstatic  mystic 
came  down  from  his  Sinai  and  censured  the  conduct  of  the 
heads  of  the  Church,  he  bowed  to  their  authority  and  never 
disputed  it.  This  Luther  would  not  understand ;  and  that 
is  how  his  mysticism  differs  essentially  from  that  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  His  true  forerunners  were  those,  like  the 
Albigenses,  the  Vaudois,  and  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit, 
John  YVycliffe  and  Huss,  who  tried  to  ruin  the  Church  on 
the  pretext  of  reforming  it. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  gives  a  most  important  date 
in  the  history  of  Catholic  thought.  The  Council  of  Trent 
defined  all  the  points  of  Church  doctrine  disputed  by  the 
Protestants.  But  these  persisted  in  their  rebellion.  Thus 
Catholic  theology  in  modern  times  has  been  largely  a  work 
of  reaction.  It  had  to  combat  heresy  refusing  to  lay  down 
its  arms.  It  constantly  defines  its  doctrines  in  opposition 
to  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  errors.  An  analogous  tendency 
is  manifested  in  the  sphere  of  spirituality.  The  faithful  have 
to  be  put  on  their  guard  against  Luther's  quietism,  and 
against  illuminism  and  private  inspiration.  In  this  direction, 
the  reaction,  perhaps,  went  too  far.  It  cast  a  kind  of  dis- 
credit on  the  mystics  which   lasted  long. 

II— REACTION  AGAINST  THE  MEDIEVAL  MYSTICS 
UPON  WHOM  LUTHER  RELIED  FOR  HIS 
AUTHORITY 

The  first  to  suffer  discredit  were  the  medieval  mystics  whom 
Luther  loved  to  quote.  The  praises  ascribed  by  the  here- 
siarch  to  a  writer  were — as  we  can  easily  understand — 
singularly  compromising.  This  is  easily  seen  in  the  cases 
of  Tauler  and,  to  some  extent,  of  Gerson,  to  mention  two 
among  others. 

Tauler,  as  well  as  the  author  of  Theologia  germanica, 
was  the  German  writer  most  favoured  by  the  head  of  the 
Reformation  : 

1   See  Bossuet,  Histoire  des  Variations,  Book  I,  i-v. 


Iprctcstant  flfovstfcfsm  73 

"  I  know  that  this  Doctor  (John  Tauler),"  he  says,  "  is 
unknown  in  the  schools  of  the  theologians,  and,  therefore, 
perhaps  contemptible.  But  for  my  own  part,  though  he 
wrote  nothing-  but  (ierman,  I  found  in  him  more  of  solid  and 
pure  theology  than  has  been  found  in  all  the  scholastic- 
doctors  of  all  the  universities,  or  than  can  be  found  in  all 
their  sentences."1 

It  is  in  his  dissertations  on  Purgatory  that  Luther  awards 
this  extraordinary  praise  to  Tauler.  He  thought  he  had 
found  a  confirmation  of  his  doctrine  in  the  accounts  of 
visions  of  Purgatory  or  in  the  appearances  of  souls  suffering 
in  it,  with  which  the  famous  preacher  embellished  his 
sermons.  2 

But  what  delighted  him  still  more  was  the  tendency  which 
he  thought  he  found  in  Tauler's  writings  to  diminish  the 
importance  of  works  and  of  spiritual  exercises,  and  to  liberate 
the  Christian's  interior  life,  and  especially  the  devotion  of 
the  religious,  from  all  external  rules.  3 

It  is  easy  to  understand  the  vexation  of  Luther's  adver- 
saries when  he  quoted  against  them  in  his  controversies  the 
authority  of  Catholic  writers.  Would  it  not  be  the  quickest 
way,  they  thought,  to  fling  overboard  these  troublesome 
people? 

One  of  the  first  and  of  the  most  redoubtable  of  Luther's 
antagonists  was  John  van  Eck,4  and  he  undertook  "  to  put 
an  end  "  to  Tauler  in  his  treatise  De  Purgatorio  contra 
Lutherum.  I  quote  a  part  of  the  passage  which  is  a  strange 
one.  Though  we  must  not  take  this  violent  accusation  quite 
literally,  it  is  an  example  of  the  passionate  tone  of  the  dis- 
cussions of  those  times,  of  what  has  been  called  the  Rabies 
theologorum  of  that  period  : 

"  Luther,"  he  says,  "  in  support  of  his  opinion  [on  Pur- 
gatory] quotes  Tauler,  his  dreamer  of  dreams  (somniatorem 

1  Hunc  dociorem  [Taulerum]  scio  quidem  ignotum  esse  in  scholis 
theologorum ,  ideoque  forte  contemftibilem.  Sed  ego  -plus  in  eo  {licet 
totus  Germanorum  vernacula  sit  conscri plus)  re-peri  theologiae  solidae 
et  sincerae  quain  in  universis  omnium  universitatum  scholasticis 
doctoribus  repertum  est,  aut  reperiri  possit  in  suis  sententiis.  Resolu- 
tiones  disputationum  de  indulgentiarum  virtute  (Conclusio  XV,  Opera, 
Iense,  tom.  I,  p.  76a). 

2  Luther  deals  with  Purgatory  with  reference  to  indulgences  in  the 
Resolutiones,  Conclusio  VIII  to  XXIX.  He  gives  Tauler  as  his 
authority,  especially  in  Conclusio  XV  and  XXIX.  Luther  also  relies 
upon  the  opinion  of  Dionysius  the  Carthusian,  according  to  which 
there  are  souls  in  Purgatory  uncertain  of  their  salvation  (Conclusio 
XIX,  p.  79b). 

3  In  Tauler's  Sermons  may  be  found  a  few  phrases,  which  may  easdy 
mislead  us  if  they  are  taken  out  of  their  context.  Cf.  Vetter,  pp.  56  ff., 
68,  155,  181  ff.     But  Tauler  never  taught  what  Luther  attributes  to  him. 

4  Born  in  14S6,  was  a  professor  and  then  Chancellor  of  the  University 
of  Ingolstadt.  In  1519  he  carried  on  a  public  controversy  with  Carlo- 
stadt  and  Luther.     Cf.  Janssen,  op.  cit.,  I,  110-111  ;  VII,  544-552. 


74  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

suum).  We  shall  refute  him  easily,  because  this  writer  has 
indulged  in  the  errors  of  the  Waldensians  and  the  Beghards1 
enumerated  in  the  Clementines  (lib.  V,  tit.  Ill,  De  haereticis, 
c.  3).  That  he  was  infected  by  these  condemned  heresies 
is  plain,  and  further  we  shall  prove  it.  As  to  Luther's 
opinion  of  Tauler  .  .  .  whom  he  prefers  to  all  the  doctors 
of  all  the  universities,  it  shows  such  shameless  arrogance, 
such  degrading  presumption,  and  such  blind  jealousy  that 
it  clearly  proves  one  thing  only  :  what  a  man  this  Luther 
is,  so  humble,  so  patient,  and  so  modest  that  he  sets  this 
dreamer  of  dreams  above  all  the  lights  of  the  Church  and  all 
the  most  illustrious  Fathers.  Doubtless  it  was  not  enough 
to  be  satisfied  with  putting  them  before  others,  but  to  make 
his  madness  appear  still  more  conspicuous,  he  declares  that 
in  Tauler  there  is  more  sound  theology  than  can  be  found, 
and  even — O  climax  of  pride  ! — than  could  possibly  be  found, 
in  all  the  doctors  of  Scholasticism  !" 

Can  Luther  speak  thus,  continues  John  van  Eck?  Tauler 
wrote  but  little.  All  his  Sermons  do  not  make  as  big  a  book 
as  the  first  one  of  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard.  More- 
over, he  is  an  unknown  writer,  and  he  is  set  above  the 
Pleiad  of  theologians  who  have  illustrated  the  Church  ! 

"  After  all,  would  to  God  that  he  were  entirely  in  the  shade 
and  that  he  had  done  no  harm  to  the  monasteries  !  For  (by 
his  mystical  teaching)  he  destroys  all  rule  and  all  religious 
discipline  and  obedience  itself,  the  pearl  of  price  among  the 
virtues.  Without  obedience,  what  were  monasteries  but  the 
training  schools  of  the  devil?" 

Had  not  Tauler  said,  in  fact,  that  those  religious  "  whom 
God  called  to  interior  recollection  "  should  follow  their  attrac- 
tion and  leave  off  the  works  prescribed  by  obedience?  His 
teaching,  doubtless  ill  understood,  had  created  disturbance 
in  some  communities,  but  it  above  all  filled  Luther  with 
enthusiasm.2 

This    passionate    harangue — need    we    say    it? — oversteps 

1  This  improbable  accusation  appears  to  have  been  made  against 
Tauler  before  Luther  was  born.  Cf.  J.  van  Eck,  De  Purgatorio  contra 
Lutherum,  Parisiis,  1548,  lib.  Ill,  pp.  125-128.  Eck  blames  Tauler  for 
having  approved  of  this  Beghard  error  condemned  by  the  Council  of 
Vienne  in  131 1  (Hefele-Leclercq,  Histoire  des  conciles,  Vol.  VI,  682)  : 
"  At  the  elevation  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  people  should  not  rise  nor 
show  any  special  veneration,  for  it  would  be  an  imperfection  to  come 
down  from  the  heights  of  contemplation  to  think  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  Eucharist."  We  cannot  tell  what  gave  rise  to  this  charge.  We 
must  note  that  there  was  then  no  critical  edition  of  Tauler's  Works. 
Writings  were  attributed  to  him  of  which  he  was  not  the  author.  That, 
too,  may  have  occurred  in  the  case  of  Luther  himself. 

2  De  Purgatorio  contra  Lutherum,  lib.  Ill,  cap.  xiii,  pp.  125-128. 
John  van  Eck  also  wrote  a  Commentary  on  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
Commentarii   in   mysticam   theologiam  S.   Dionysii  Areo-p.,   Augsburg, 


Protestant  flD^sticism  75 

propriety.  The  fiery  controversialist's  excuse  lies  in  his 
desire  to  defend  the  Church  and  to  overthrow  Luther's  im- 
posture. Besides,  who  calculates  his  blows  in  the  thick  of 
the  battle?  Tauler  had  the  misfortune  of  winning-  Luther's 
appreciation.  John  van  Eck,  and  others  as  well  as  he, 
hence  inferred  that  he  bordered  upon  heresy.  It  was  part 
of  the  destiny  of  this  great  mystic  to  be  the  butt  of  contra- 
diction, and  all  the  more  so  because  he  was  credited  with 
writings  which  never  came  from  his  pen. 

However  exaggerated  they  were,  Eck's  attacks  upon 
Tauler  were  not  without  effect.  They  so  far  discredited 
Tauler's  books,  says  Louis  de  Blois,  that  they  are  no  longer 
read.1  The  truth  urgently  needed  to  be  re-established.  The 
Abbot  of  Liessies  undertook  the  work. 

He  personally  esteemed  Tauler  greatly.  He  drew  his 
inspiration  from  Tauler  frequently  in  his  own  works.  His 
famous  Institutio  spiritualis  in  many  passages  is  a  faithful 
echo  of  Tauler's  teaching.  In  the  first  appendix  of  this 
treatise,  Louis  de  Blois  has  gathered  together  the  principal 
texts  made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of  documentary  justifica- 
tion. Those  from  Tauler  are  the  most  numerous.2  No  one 
was  more  concerned  for  the  good  reputation  of  the  Rhenish 
mystic  than  the  Abbot  of  Liessies.  He  thus  felt  it  necessary, 
when  he  sent  the  Institutio  spiritualis  to  his  friend  Florentius 
du  Mont  in  1 55 1,  to  add  to  it  an  Apology  for  Tauler,  which 
he  had  written  just  when  Eck  published  his  De  Purgatorio.3 

Louis  de  Blois  acknowledges  the  good  faith  of  Eck,  "  the 
venerable  theologian  and  invincible  defender  of  the  Catholic 
faith."      His  intention  is  excellent: 

"  Although  he  has  condemned  Tauler  thoughtlessly  and 
without  examining  him  closely  enough,  we  must  not,  there- 
fore, think  that  he  has  acted  wickedly.  The  consuming  zeal 
against  the  heresiarch  Luther,  which  carried  him  away,  led 
him,  as  may  be  easily  understood,  to  express  a  precipitate 
and  unjust  judgement  about  Tauler,   a  very  holy  man."4 

1  Cum  intellexissem  plerosque  a  lectione  librorum  D.  loannis  Thauleri 
deterreri  verbis  loannis  Eckii,  operae  pretium  duxi  paucis  refellere  ea 
quae  in  ipsum  Thaulerum  minus  considerate  scribit  Eckius. — Ludovici 
Blosii  Institutions  spiritualis  appendix  quarta  sive  Apologia  pro 
D.  loanne  T hauler 0  adversus  D.  Ioannem  Eckium,  cap.  i,  Opera  L. 
Blosii,  Antwerp,  1632,  p.  344. 

2  Letter  to  Florentius  du  Mont,  Preface  of  the  Apologia,  p.  344.  See 
pp.  329-336  for  this  Appendix  prima  desumpta  ex  libris  D.  loannis 
Thauleri  aliorumque  patrum. 

3  Louis  de  Blois  wrote  the  Institutio  in  the  first  instance  for  his 
own  personal  use  some  time  before  1551,  the  year  in  which  he  sent  it 
to  Florentius  [Epistola  ad  Florentium,  at  the  beginning  of  the  treatise, 
Opera,  p.  287).  Eck  published  his  treatise  De  Purgatorio  about  1530. 
It  was  between  1530  and  1550  that  Louis  de  Blois  wrote  the  Apologia. 
It  makes  the  fourth  appendix  of  the  Institutio. 

*  Apologia,  cap.  vi,  p.  352. 


76  Gbrtettan  Spirituality 

Except  in  intention,  Eck's  criticisms  are  altogether  mis- 
taken. Tauler,  a  most  Catholic  writer,  is  charged  with 
heresy  without  proof.  It  is  true  that  Luther  praised  him 
and  claimed  him  in  support  of  his  authority.  What  is  strange 
in  all  this?  Did  he  not  do  the  same  with  St  Paul  and  with 
the  great  writers  of  the  Church?  To  assert  that  Tauler 
wanted  to  withdraw  the  devout  from  the  laws  of  the  Church 
is  a  fearful  calumny.  Merely  to  read  the  Sermons  is  to  be 
convinced  of  that.  How  can  anyone  discover  the  errors  of 
the  Beghards  in  his  books,  when  one  of  his  most  famous 
Sermons  is  full  of  thunder  against  them?1 

This  Apologia  did  not  altogether  justify  Tauler.  Neither 
Laurentius  Surius2  nor  Bellarmine  succeeded  in  dissipating 
the  prejudices  against  him  which  widely  lingered  on.  The 
rapid  growth  of  Protestantism  was  not  calculated  to  help 
them.  How,  they  thought,  could  anyone  put  confidence  in 
a  mystic  who  has  expressed  himself  in  such  a  way  that  heresy 
can  rely  on  him  for  support?  Thus  Tauler  continued  to  be  a 
disputed  writer.  Bossuet  held  him  to  be  "  one  of  the  soundest 
and  most  right  of  mystics."3  The  opinion  of  Suarez,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  that,  "  as  this  writer  does  not  speak  with 
scholastic  precision  and  subtlety,  but  in  mystical  language, 
we  cannot  build  any  strong  foundation  on  his  words  when  we 
would  comply  with  his  authority."4 


Gerson  met  with  much  the  same  fate.  However,  his 
Gallicism  did  him  as  much  injury  as  the  favours  of  Luther. 

The  latter  showed  more  appreciation  for  the  theologian  in 
him  than  for  the  mystic,  and  this  he  also  did  in  the  case  of 
Pierre  d'Ailly.5  Gerson's  spiritual  doctrine  is  just  the  opposite 
of  quietism.  What  could  the  head  of  the  Reformation  find 
in  it  in  support  of  his  teaching  of  the  absolute  passivity  of 
man  in  the  work  of  his  own  sanctification? 

In  the  conference  which  he  had  in  15 12,  at  the  beginning  of 
his  apostasy,  with  Cardinal  Cajetan,  Luther  relied  upon  the 
prestige  of  Gerson  to  maintain  that  "  the  authority  of  popes 

1  Apologia,  cap.  i-iv.  To  reply  to  Eck's  accusations,  Louis  of  Blois 
refers  to  Tauler's  Sermons  and  to  the  Institutions,  then  regarded  as 
authentic.  We  know  that  the  Institutions  are  not  by  Tauler.  The 
Sermons  referred  to  Louis  of  Blois  are  :  The  Second  Sermon  for  the 
First  Sunday  in  Lent  against  the  Beghards ;  the  Sermon  for  the 
Eleventh  Sunday  after  Trinity;  the  two  Second  Sermons  for  the  Third 
and  Fourth  Sundays  in  Lent;  and  the  First  Sermon  for  the  Third 
Sunday  after  Trinity  on  the  religious  life;  the  First  Sermon  for  the 
Eighteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity.     They  are  not  all  in  Vetter's  edition. 

*  Preface  to  his  translation  of  Tauler's  Works. 

3  Instruction  sur  les  etats  d"1  oraison ,  Book  I,   iii. 

*  De  virtute  Religionis,  Tract.  Quartus,  lib.   II,  cap.  xii,  n.   17. 

6  The  Occamist  errors  of  Peter  d'Ailly  had  already  discredited  him 
before  the  appearance  of  Luther's  writings. 


Protestant  Abgstfcfsm  77 

...  is  subject  to  the  veto  of  councils."1  He  also  alleged  his 
testimony,  as  being-  favourable  to  himself,  with  regard  to 
indulgences.  2 

But  it  was  above  all  in  controversies  as  to  the  monastic 
state  that  the  Protestants  made  a  misleading  use  of  the 
writings  of  Gerson.  One  of  their  principal  points  is  to  put 
the  state  of  the  layman  in  the  same  rank  as  that  of  the 
religious,  since  monastic  vows  were  null  in  strict  right.  Now 
it  was  in  the  very  year  1418,  at  the  Council  of  Constance, 
that  the  Chancellor  of  Paris  must  have  got  Matthew  Grabon 
condemned  for  exalting  the  religious  life  beyond  measure. 
According  to  him,  the  laity  could  not  follow  the  evangelical 
counsels,  nor  make  vows,  nor  practise  poverty,  chastity,  and 
obedience  without  entering  into  one  of  the  existing  religious 
Orders  which  had  been  approved  by  the  Church.  Any  work 
of  perfection  they  sought  to  do  while  living  in  the  world 
would  be  without  merit,  and  even  gravely  unlawful.  For 
man  cannot  do  such  works,  which  are  only  "  of  counsel," 
unless  he  is  in  a  state  of  perfection — i.e.,  in  a  canonical 
religious  Order  ! 3 

Gerson  rightly  rose  in  indignation  against  such  enormities. 
All,  even  the  laity,  can  practise  at  least  some  of  the  evan- 
gelical counsels.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  belong  to  a 
religious  Order.  In  all  conditions  men  can  tend  towards 
perfection. 

"  For  the  religious  Orders,  created  by  men,"  he  adds, 
"  are  called  improperly  enough  and  by  an  abuse  of  language 
and  somewhat  pretentiously,  states  of  perfection.  Yes, 
indeed,  because  there  are  in  them,  as  everyone  knows,  people 
far  from  perfect  among  the  professed.  .  .  .  And  this 
proves  that  the  said  expression  is  very  badly  chosen,  that, 
according  to  those  who  have  lately  made  use  of  it  following 
holy  doctors,  it  does  not  mean  that  the  religious  possess  or 
have  acquired  perfection,  like  prelates,  but  only  that  they 
ought  to  acquire  it.  It  is  clear  that  perfection  to  be  acquired 
is  a  very  different  thing  from  perfection  that  has  been  already 
acquired.  Furthermore,  religious  profession  would  be  better 
named  if  it  were  called  the  way  and  the  means  of  perfection 
or  the  habit  of  tending  thereto  rather  than  the  state  of  per- 
fection. And  verily,  if  the  religious  state  leads  and  helps  a 
certain  number  of  people  to  practise  the  Christian  religion  in 
a  more  perfect  manner,  it  turns  aside  and  ruins  many  others 

1  Pallavicini,  Histoire  du  Concile  de  Trente,  Book  I,  chap.  ix. 

2  Resolutiones  dis-put.  de  indulg.  Conclusio  VIII.  According  to 
Luther,  Gerson  had  condemned  indulgentias  titulo  multorum  annorum 
donatas.     See  Concl.  XI  and  XXXVIII. 

*  See  Matthew  Grabon's  erroneous  propositions,  Gersonii  opera,  473. 
There  are  thirty-six,  quarum  aliae  sunt  haereticae,  aliae  erroneae  et 
aliae  scandalosae  ac  piarum  aurium  offensivae,  p.  474. 


78  Cbrtstlan  Spirituality 

who  would  have  gained  their  salvation  much  better  in  the 
world.  For,  an  unfaithful  and  foolish  promise  displeaseth 
God  (Eccles.  v,  3),  a  promise  rashly  made  and  not  kept."1 

Gerson's  notion  is  certainly  rig"ht.  His  way  of  putting  it 
would  have  doubtless  been  very  different  in  a  treatise  on  the 
religious  state  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  polemics.  Since 
Matthew  Grabon  extolled  the  religious  life  beyond  measure, 
was  it  not  necessary  to  bring  it  down  enough  to  set  it  in  its 
true  place?  To  put  a  thing  in  its  proper  place  is  not  to 
depreciate  it.  The  Reformers,  misunderstanding  Gerson's 
mind,  claimed  this  passage  as  an  argument  in  their  favour. 
Article  XXVII  of  the  famous  Confession  of  Augsburg,2  which 
is  a  bitter  criticism  of  the  religious  state,  ends  thus  : 

"  Lately  Gerson  has  blamed  the  error  of  the  monks  as  to 
the  nature  of  perfection  [which  could  not  be  practised  outside 
the  cloister]  and  he  testifies  that,  in  his  time,  it  was  a  novelty 
to  call  the  monastic  life  a  state  of  perfection." 

This  abuse  of  Gerson's  authority  does  not  appear  to  have 
much  impressed  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent.3  Still, 
his  memory  suffered  from  it  afterwards.  His  cultus,  which 
was  so  popular  at  Lyons  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,4  completely  died  out  later  on.  Were  not  the  Pro- 
testant controversies  with  which  his  name  was  so  often  mixed 
up  at  least  partly  responsible  for  it? 

As  for  the  Theologia  germanica  (Theologia  deutsch)  it 
was  suspect  from  the  day  of  its  appearance.  Written  in 
the  fourteenth  century  by  an  unknown  hand,  apparently  of 
the  school  of  Meister  Eckhart,  it  was  published  by  Luther 
in  1516,  and  republished  by  him  in  1518  with  a  fuller  text.5 
Revealing  dubious  tendencies,  the  Theologia  germanica  gave 
immense  pleasure  to  the  head  of  the  Reformation. 

"  I  declare,"  says  he  in  his  Preface  to  the  second  edition, 
"  that  I  have  not  found  any  book,  except  the  Bible  and  St 
Augustine,  which  has  taught  me  more  of  the  meaning  of 
God,   Christ,  man,  and  everything."6 

1  Opera,  I,  568. 

2  It  is  the  work  of  Melanchthon,  and  was  approved  by  Luther. 

3  They  speak  of  him  with  respect,  and  attach  much  importance  to 
his  opinions.  Cf.  Pallavicini,  op.  cit.,  Book  VIII,  chap,  xix ;  XII, 
chap,  xi ;  XVII,  chap,  xii,  etc. 

*  Amongst  others,  see  the  account  of  the  miracles  wrought  at  Gerson's 
tomb,  given  by  Etienne  Verney,  chaplain  at  St  Paul  of  Lyons  (Opera 
by  Elie  Dupin,  torn.  I,  pp.  clxxxviii  ff.).  See  Canon  Giraud's  article, 
Bulletin  historique  du  diocese  de  Lyon,  July-October,  1923. 

6  New  editions  and  translations  were  numerous.  Sebastian  Castel- 
lion's  French  translation  of  1558  was  put  on  the  Index  in  1608.  On 
the  Theologia  germanica  see  the  Etude  sur  la  Theologie  germanique, 
by  tylaria  Windstosser,  Paris,  1911. 

6  Windstosser,  p.  129.  In  spite  of  Protestantism,  Germany  and  the 
Low  Countries  produced  some  Catholic  spiritual  writers  :  John  of 
Staupitz,  Augustinian,  Luther's  Provincial,  De  amore  Dei,  Frankfort, 


Protestant  Mysticism  79 

This  shows  us  how  much  he  drew  from  this  system  of 
theology.  It  also  shows  us  why  Catholic  orthodoxy  felt  such 
repulsion  for  it. 

1524;  John  Tritheim,  O.S.B.,  Abbot  of  Spannheim  (ti5i6),  De  triplici 
regione  claustralium  Opera,  Mainz,  1605.  Margarita  evangelica  and 
Tern-plum  animae,  by  an  unknown  writer,  published  by  Nicholas 
Eschius,  priest  (ti573),  at  Antwerp  in  1539  and  1563.  Francis  Ver- 
voort,  Chlamys  sponsi  sive  de  interna  imitatione  vitae  et  crucis  Christi , 
Antwerp,  1563;  Adrian  Adriaensens,  S.J.,  De  divinis  inspirationibus 
opusculum,  Coloniae,  1601  ;  Bernardine  Rosignolo,  S.J.,  De  disciplina 
christianae  perfectionis  pro  triplici  hominum  statu,  Ingolstadt,  1600; 
Francis  Amelry,  Carmelite,  Dialogus  de  amante  anima  ad  sponsi  sui 
cognitionem  perducta,  Coloniae,  1605;  Hugo  Roth,  S.J.,  Via  regia 
virtutis  et  vitae  spiritualis,  Munich,  1689 ;  John  James  Graft,  Speculum 
theologiae  mysticae,  Strassburg,  1618. 


,;,-, 


CHAPTER    V 

THE  SPANISH  SCHOOL  BEFORE  ST  TERESA 

THE  discredit  that  befell  mysticism  in  consequence 
of  Protestant  heresy  appears  especially  in  Spain, 
above  all  in  the  first  two  thirds  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 
The  sixteenth  century  marks  the  apogee  of 
Spain.  After  the  final  expulsion  of  the  Moors  in  1492,  Spain 
attained  and  kept  the  political  supremacy  of  Europe  during 
the  reigns  of  Charles  V  and  Philip  II.  She  produced  a  Pleiad 
of  theologians,  several  of  whom  gave  lustre  to  the  Council 
of  Trent.  In  literature  she  had  Cervantes  ;  in  mysticism,  St 
Teresa  and  St  John  of  the  Cross. 

The  Catholic  life  of  Spain,  prosperous  as  it  was,  was  never- 
theless disturbed  during  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  century 
with  the  dread  of  Protestant  heresy  and  by  the  false  mysticism 
of  the  Alumbrados  or  Illuminati.  The  rigours  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion had  to  be  let  loose,  and  its  labours  were  assisted  by 
Philip  II.  His  part,  which  in  some  ways  may  be  thought 
marred  by  excesses,  really  resulted  in  maintaining  orthodoxy 
in  Spain.1  But  it  so  far  hindered  the  growth  of  mystical 
theology  that  the  history  of  Spanish  spirituality  during  this 
period  is  partly  bound  up  with  that  of  the  Inquisition. 

It  is  well  for  the  knowledge  of  this  Spanish  illuminism, 
against  which  the  Inquisition  had  to  fight  so  hard,  to  recall 
the  philosophical  tendencies  and  the  religious  doctrines  of 
medieval  Spain. 

I— ARABIAN-SPANISH  MYSTICISM  IN  THE  MIDDLE 
AGES— THE   FRANCISCAN   RAYMOND   LULL 

The  Iberian  peninsula,  except  a  small  portion  in  the  north- 
east, was  subject  to  the  Moors  for  several  centuries. 
Cordova,  the  Arabian  capital  until  1236,  became  a  powerful 
intellectual  centre  under  the  Omayyad  dynasty  in  the  tenth 
century.  There  they  studied  Aristotle.  Arabian  writings 
from  the  East  flooded  it.  The  reaction  of  Eastern  Islam  in 
the  eleventh  century  against  the  introduction  of  Greek  phil- 

1  On  the  Inquisition,  see  F.  Mourret,  Histoire  gin ir ale  de  V£glise, 
Vol.  V,  pp.  511  ff.,  which  contains  a  bibliography.  Alfred  Baudrillart, 
L'Eglise  catholique,  la  Renaissance,  le  Protestantisme,  chap,  vii,  Paris, 
1905,  pp.  239  ff. 

80 


JiSefore  St  TTeresa  81 

osophy  into  the  religion  of  Spanish  Mohammedanism  but  im- 
perfectly checked  this  great  scientific  movement.  Cordova 
gave  birth  in  1126  to  the  most  eminent  Arabian  philosopher 
of  Musulman  Spain,  Averroes  (finjS),  whose  name  and 
teaching  fill  so  large  a  space  in  the  European  theological 
schools  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  Arabian-Spanish  philosophical  system  is  called  Aver- 
roism,  after  the  name  of  its  last  and  most  famous  exponent. 
It  also  constitutes  a  theology  and  even  an  ascetico-mystical 
theology. 

The  end  proposed  to  itself  by  this  Arabian  mysticism  is 
union  with  God  by  means  of  speculation  or  contemplation. 

Aristotle  had  let  it  be  understood  that  the  life  of  the  mind, 
the  life  of  thought,  brings  us  into  touch  with  God  and  makes 
us  participate  in  his  felicity.  The  Arabian  philosophers  give 
a  definite  shape  to  these  mystical  notions  by  their  great  theory 
of  the  oneness  of  the  intellect.  The  act  of  knowledge  occurs, 
according  to  them,  by  the  co-operation  of  the  passive  or 
subjective  intellect  with  the  active  or  objective  intellect.  The 
first  is  a  faculty  of  the  soul ;  it  is  something  individual.  The 
other  is  one  and  universal,  something  divine.  The  active 
intellect  alone  is  immortal  and  absolute,  and  in  fine  its 
attributes  are  really  proper  to  God  alone. 

In  order  to  think,  man  must  set  his  passive  intellect,  which 
is  his  capacity  for  receiving  the  light,  over  against  that  sort 
of  divine  sun,  which  is  the  active  intellect.  The  sole  raison 
d'etre  of  the  passive  intellect  is  to  be  united  with  the  active 
intellect  to  produce  thought,  "  just  as  matter  calls  for  form 
to  produce  a  material  being."  The  union  of  the  soul  with 
the  active  universal  intellect  may  even  become  a  kind  of 
identification.  The  soul  is  then  like  God.  It  attains  its  end, 
its  perfection.1 

The  Arabian-Spanish  school  was  very  taken  up  with  this 
union,  the  unique,  real,  and  true  fruit  of  our  earthly  life.  The 
great  means  of  securing  it  is  study,  speculation.  It  is  by 
this  that  man  becomes  identified  with  the  active  intellect. 

Thus  reflection  and  meditation  have  a  preponderant  place 
in  Arabian  mysticism. 

But  as  a  rule  external  means  and  ascetical  exercises  must 
be  added  to  them.  The  Arabian  writer  who  has  described 
them  most   fully   is   Ghazali  or  Algazel   (jiiii).      From   the 

1  On  this  mysticism,  see  Avicenna  (Ibn-Sina)  in  Roger  Bacon,  Opus 
majus,  ed.  Jebb,  London,  1733  ;  Alfarabi  (t95o),  in  Munk,  Melanges  de 
fhilosophie  juive  et  arabe,  Paris,  1S59,  pp.  341  ff ;  Algazali  or  Algazel 
(t  1  in),  in  Munk,  ibid.,  pp.  372  ff.  ;  Carra  de  Vaux,  Gazali,  Paris,  1902  ; 
Asin    Palacios,    La   Mystique   d'Al-Gazzdli ,    Beyrouth,    1914;   Avempace 

j  (Ibn-Babja,  t  about  1138),  in  Munk,  pp.  3S8  ff ;  Averroes  (tugS),  in 
E.    Renan,    Averroes   et   I  Averroisme,   2nd   ed.,    Paris,    1861,   pp.    88   ff. 

!  Not  all  of  these  Arabian  philosophers  lived  in  Spain,  but  their  works 
were  widely  read  in  that  country. 

in.  6 


82  Christian  Spirituality 

philosopher  that  he  was,  Ghazali  turned  ascetic  and  lived  as 
a  hermit.  While  he  taught  philosophy  at  Baghdad  and  at 
Alexandria,  he  felt  the  vanity  of  the  various  philosophical 
systems  of  his  day.  For  him  philosophy  is  a  deceptive 
science,  which  must  be  destroyed.  In  desperation  he  em- 
braced mysticism. 

His  ascetico-mystical  system  appears  to  owe  much  to  the 
Christian  spirituality  of  the  monks  of  the  East.1  Ghazali, 
born  in  Persia,  was  able  to  study  it  at  leisure.  Thus  Musul- 
man  Spain  through  the  Arabs  came  to  know  the  spiritual 
teaching  of  the  East  in  the  same  way  as  she  received  from 
them  the  works  of  Aristotle. 

Ghazali  makes  his  "  devotee  "  go  through  the  way  of  per- 
fection in  seven  steps  or  stages.  The  first — as  might  be 
expected — is  the  step  of  knowledge,  of  rational  speculation. 
The  others  are  :  repentance,  victory  over  the  hindrances  scat- 
tered in  our  way — these  are  the  world,  bad  examples,  the 
devil,  and  concupiscence ;  the  breaking  of  the  shackles  on 
our  progress  towards  perfection  ;  the  use  of  the  stimulants  of 
hope  and  fear;  purity  of  intention  and  the  recollection  of 
divine  blessings  in  order  to  avoid  hypocrisy  and  vanity ;  the 
seventh,  and  last,  is  the  step  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  to 
God.  Ghazali  intersperses  his  ascetic  remarks  with  very 
practical  and  psychological  counsels  to  help  the  "  devotee  " 
in  his  ascent  toward  the  highest  perfection.  As  we  read  him 
we  often  wonder  to  whom  we  are  listening  :  Ghazali,  the  dis- 
ciple of  the  Koran,  or  the  Christian  ascetics,  to  whom  he 
owes  his  inspiration.  But  beneath  this  seemingly  orthodox 
spirituality  lurks  a  mysticism  impregnated  with  pantheism. 
Besides,  Arabian  mysticism  was  not  altogether  protected 
from  illuminism  and  the  religious  extravagances  of  oriental 
Islamism. 


The  brilliant  works  of  the  Arabian  philosophers  must  have 
been  in  their  way  widely  seductive  to  their  readers.  The 
Spanish  mind  had  already  been  predisposed  from  the  fourth 
century  by  Priscillianism  towards  the  exaltation  of  a  mystical 
sentimentalism.  The  Catalan  Raymond  Lull2  (11315),  who 
well  understood  the  dangers  of  the  Arabian  literature  for  the 

1  M.  Asin  Palacios  sums  it  up  in  an  analysis  of  the  little  book  entitled 
Minhadj,  by  Ghazali,  in  the  Revue  d'ascetique  et  de  mystique,  July, 
1923,  pp.  275  ff.,  October,  1923,  pp.  345  ff. 

2  Acta  Sanctorum,  June,  torn.  V,  pp.  668  ff.  Blessed  Raymond  Lull 
was  born  in  1232  at  Palma  in  Majorca,  which  had  been  recently  won 
from  the  Moors  by  James  I  of  Aragon.  He  became  a  Franciscan,  and 
died  a  martyr  at  Bougie  (Algeria)  in  1315.  His  chief  mystical  work  is 
the  mystical  romance,  Blanquerna,  in  which  are  found  the  Art  of  Con- 
templation and  the  Book  of  the  Lover  and  the  Beloved.  Cf.  Marius 
Andre,  Le  bienheureux  Raymond  Lulle,  2nd  ed.,  Paris,  1900. 


before  St  Teresa  83 

faithful,  would  have  had  the  reading  of  it  entirely  prohibited. 
Weak  minds  allowed  themselves  to  be  easily  upset  bv  the 
many  errors  it  contained.  Thus,  the  fiery  Franciscan  under- 
took a  spiritual  crusade  against  Islam.  He  desired  to  destroy 
it  with  the  weapons  of  Catholic  knowledge. 

But  error  can  only  be  destroyed  by  putting  the  truth  in  its 
place.  Efficiently  to  combat  Arabian  spirituality,  Ravmond 
countered  it  with  Christian  spirituality.  And  to  do  this  suc- 
cessfully he  set  forth  the  latter  under  the  guise  of  a  mystical 
romance. 

This  style  of  literature  was  much  liked  by  the  Arabs.  A 
contemporary  of  Averroes,  Ibn-Tufail,  called  Abubacer  bv 
the  scholastics,  had  written  a  philosophico-mystical  romance.1 
In  it  man's  faculties  are  personified,  and  they  attain  to  union 
with  God  by  their  own  ingenuity.  This  novel,  written  in 
Catalan,  achieved  an  immense  success,  and  was  translated 
into  several  languages. 

Raymond  Lull  tells  us  that  he  modelled  himself  on  an 
Arabian  work  when  he  wrote  his  mystical  novel,  Blanquerna,2 
and  thus  he  explains  to  us  its  apparently  rather  strange  and 
disconcerting  aspect.  "  A  true  romance  of  contemporary- 
manners  .  .  .  but  a  romance  of  religious  manners  and  a 
didactic  romance,  a  novel  with  a  purpose,  in  which  the 
mystical  philosopher  reveals  his  ideas  as  to  the  reformation 
of  the  Christian  world  and  the  conversion  of  the  infidels ;  and 
he  gives  a  rule  of  life  for  five  conditions  of  people  :  the 
married,  the  religious,  the  prelates,  apostolic  lordship,  and 
the  contemplative  life."3 

It  is  this  fifth  part  that  contains  the  Art  of  Contemplation 
and  the  Book  of  the  Lover  and  the  Beloz-ed,  Lull's  strictlv 
mystical  works. 

The  Arabs  are  given  to  meditation.  Then,  as  now,  thev 
loved  silent  reflection.  In  this  they  found  the  great  means 
of  becoming  united  with  the  universal  active  intellect.  Rav- 
mond Lull  well  understood  the  Arab  mind  and  thus  explains 
how  the  hero  of  Blanquerna  became  a  hermit  and  contem- 
plated the  Christian  virtues  and  the  attributes  of  God.  In 
the  Art  of  Contemplation  he  teaches  us  how  to  set  in  motion 
the  powers  of  the  memory,  the  understanding,  and  the  will, 
and  to  apply  them  to  the  consideration  of  God  and  his  virtues.4 
These    faculties    of    the    soul    intervene    somewhat    like    the 

1  Philosofhus  autodidactus,  Pocoke's  ed.,  1671. 

:  Critical  ed.,  bv  Salvador  Galmes,  Palma.  1014.  See  E.  Etchegoven, 
Melanges  d'Histoire  et  d'Archeologie  de  VEcole  de  Rome,  Vol. 
XXXVIII,  pp.  19S-211  :  Probst,  in  the  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  der  Phil. 
des  Mitielalters,  XIII.  2 -;.  Minister,  1914 :  J.  Rosello,  Obras  de  Ramon 
Lull,  Palmo,  5  vols.  ;  Marius,  Andre,  L'Ami  et  lAime,  Paris,  1921. 

3  Marius  Andre,  L'Arr-.i  et  VAime,  p.  xvii. 

1  We  find  an  analogous  procedure  in  the  Ignatian  method  of  medita- 
tion according  to  the  three  powers  of  the  soul. 


84  Christian  Spirituality 

characters  in  a  novel ;  each  plays  a  given  part  and  co-operates 
in  the  final  result,  which  is  union  with  God.  Lull  loved  this 
kind  of  personification.  In  his  great  philosophical  treatise, 
The  General  Art,  does  he  not  replace  the  metaphysical  cate- 
gories with  personified  abstractions? 

The  method  of  contemplation  once  given,  he  had  to  find 
the  subject  for  contemplation.  Lull  remembered  that  the 
Arabs  greatly  relished  short  moral  sentences  of  a  somewhat 
enigmatical  character,  on  which  they  concentrated  their  atten- 
tion during  the  day.  He,  too,  therefore  puts  forth  a  col- 
lection of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  sentences — one  for 
each  day  of  the  year — on  the  love  which  joins  the  creature 
to  Christ.  This  is  the  Book  of  the  Lover  and  the  Beloved. 
Each  sentence,  made  of  one  or  two  phrases,  conceals  a  hidden 
meaning,  a  symbol  to  be  detected  and  a  lesson  sometimes 
profound.1  The  hymns  of  the  Lover  and  the  Beloved,  as  Lull 
himself  tells  us,  are  condensed  parables  which  require  an  ex- 
planation and  a  commentary. 

Raymond  Lull's  efforts  to  combat  Arabian  mysticism  are 
the  best  proof  of  its  powers  of  penetration.  It  spread  through 
Europe  with  Averroism.  We  know  that  in  the  fourteenth 
century  it  gave  its  inspiration  to  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of 
the  Free  Spirit,  and  to  the  heterodox  Beghards.  Gerson 
blamed  the  German  mystics  for  not  keeping  sufficiently  clear 
of  it.2 

But  it  was  Spain  that  was  chiefly  threatened  by  this 
debased  mysticism.  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  and  Isabella  of 
Castile  in  the  fifteenth  century  finally  destroyed  the  political 
power  of  the  Moors  in  the  peninsula.  But  they  did  not  do 
away  with  their  intellectual  prestige  to  the  same  extent. 
The  eminent  Franciscan  Cardinal  Ximenes  de  Cisneros 
(11517)  tried  to  give  a  great  splendour  to  Spanish  Catholic 
thought  in  order  to  neutralize  the  fascination  exercised  by 
the  Arabian  learning.  At  Alcala  in  1409  he  founded  a  univer- 
sity which,  with  its  elder  sister  of  Salamanca,3  was  to  make 
Spain,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  the  land  of 
the  most  famous  theologians.    He  also  had  published4  in  Cas- 

1  "  The  ways  followed  by  the  Lover  in  search  of  the  Beloved  are 
long  and  perilous,  full  of  considerations,  sighs  and  tears,  and  illumined 
with  love  "  (Second  Sentence).  "  The  Lover  was  asked  what  was 
happiness,  and  answered  :  It  is  the  unhappiness  borne  by  love  "  (Sixty- 
fifth   Sentence,   E.   Etchegoyen,   ibid.). 

2  Gersonii  of  era,  torn.  Ill,  pp.  1124-1125,  Antwerp,  1706. 

3  The  University  of  Salamanca  was  founded  in  1259. 

4  He  published  in  Castilian,  amongst  others,  the  Contemftus  mundi 
(the  Imitatio  Christi)  attributed  to  Gerson,  the  Scala  of  St  John 
Climacus,  the  Life  of  Christ  by  Ludolph  the  Carthusian,  the  Letters 
of  St  Catherine  of  Siena,  the  Stimulus  amoris  of  St  Bonaventure,  the 
Moralia  in  Job  of  St  Gregory  the  Great,  the  Letters  of  St  Jerome,  the 
Legenda  or  Flos  sanctorum  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine. 


Before  St  Ccre-a  -f 

tilian  and  in  Latin  foreign  works  of  spirituality,  anticipating 
any  works  which  might  be  written  in  Spanish-  His  relation, 
the  Abbot  of  Montserrat,  also  endeavoured  to  procure  such 
works  lor  his  monks,  and  began  to  write  himself.  At  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  was  a  great  effort  in  Spain 
to  propagate  Catholic  spirituality.  In  spite  of  this,  the  old 
pseudo-mystical  leaven  was  not  got  rid  of.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  Middle  Ages  it  had  acquired  an  increase  of  activity 
from  the  immoral  quietism  of  the  Albigenses  and  the  Beg- 
hards.;  Hence  the  Spanish  mind  had  a  predisposition 
towards  false  mysticism  which  led  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
heresy  of  the  Alumbrados. 


II— THE  ••  ALUMBRADOS  "   OR  "  ILLUMIXATI     - 

It  was  particularly  from  the  year  1509  that  the  sect  of  the 
Alumbrados  began  to  be  talked  of  in  Andalusia.  It  had 
not  then  any  definite  or  singular  doctrine.  its  adherents 
were  taught  sentences,  and  were  a  _  -  -.-  i  to  take  up  practices 
which  led  to  quietism  and  stimulated  ex;  emotionalism. 

The  extravagance  and  the  immortality  of  the  old  Islamic 
superstitions  were  reproduced  among  these  IUuminati,  whose 
excesses  attracted  the  attention  of  the  inquisitor s.  The 
heads  of  the  sect,  who  were  sometimes  renegade  religious, 
seduced  and  corrupted  a  great  number  of  women.  Before 
the  death  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  a  Franciscan  of  the  province 
of  Castile  was  charged  with  accusations  on  this  ground. 
Toledo,    Seville,    and   particularly    Lierena   in    Estremadura, 

:erienced  abominations  of  this  kind.  The  Alumbrados 
also  had  their  thaumaturgists,  impostors  who  deceived  many 
of  the   faithful.     Th  re   believed  to   be   favoured 

ecsl    -         vi  5  ions,  and  stigmata. 

The  faithful  ran  extreme  danger  of  perversion.  The 
Spanish  temperament  is  inclined  towards  mysticism,  and  the 
religious  ignorance  of  the  people  was  so  great  !  Moreover, 
the  Inquisition  pursued  the  Alumbrados  unremirtingi 
out  being  able  to  get  rid  of  them.  It  published  edicts  against 
them  in  1568,  1574,  and  in  1623.      This  final  e  diet  summed  up 

:  The  Al'rizerses  :r  -±e  ::::::;  ::'  Le-:r.  tie  Berrari;  :r_    lara'-cna 
a-f  in  tie  iizrirz  ~::a.  "zai  ~?.ie  their  ravaees 

3  Menendez     y     Pdayo,     Historic,    de    las    Heterdoxos    EsfamoUs, 
Madrid,   iS5  II:  Rinaldi,  Annates  ecclesiastic* _  ad    ami  _:•■-- 

Llorente-PeHier,  Histoire  critique  de  FInquisition  d'Esfagne,  French 
translation.  Paris.  1S1S,  VoL  II,  pp.  3-4;  VoL  III,  pp.  102-126;  VoL  IV, 
pp.  :  -  Ribadeneira,  I'ida  del  Padre  Ignaeio  de  Loyola,  Book  I, 

chap.  14.  16 ;  Book  II,  a  14,  29.  Fermin  CaUero,  Yida  de  Melekior 
Cano,  Madrid,  :;-  ■    •--       I  i.  :       :  ■_ 

Conderc's  translation,  Paris,  chap,  xxxiii;  Die:.  ? Histoire.  it  de 
Geografkie  eccl.,  art.  Alumbrados,  Par  is,  19133  R.  Hrrraer:.  Sainte 
Tercse,  icrivain,  Paris,  1922,  pp.  66-67;  297-302, 


86  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

the  doctrines  of  the  false  mystics  in  thirty-five  propositions,1 
and  these  enable  us  to  form  a  fairly  accurate  notion  of 
them. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  discovering  traces  of  Protestant 
teaching-  in  them.  From  1524  the  Lutherans  disseminated 
their  books  in  Spain,  and,  despite  the  vigilance  of  the  Inquisi- 
tors, they  found  a  good  many  readers.2  The  leaders  of  the 
Reformation  thought  they  could  easily  make  use  of  the 
Alumbrados  to  spread  their  errors  throughout  the  peninsula. 
In  fact,  the  false  mystics  taught  that  "  the  intercession  of 
the  saints  was  a  vain  thing,"  and  that  the  veneration  of  their 
images  was  useless.  Their  ideas  of  Purgatory  and  of  the 
Eucharist  were  like  those  of  the  Protestants. 

Their  quietism  reminds  us  of  that  of  Meister  Eckhart  and 
his  school.  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
German  mystics  were  known  in  Spain.  Juan  de  Valdes,  the 
theologian  of  the  Alumbrados,  drew  inspiration  from  them 
in  his  Hundred  and  Ten  Divine  Considerations ;3  but  he  is  far 
more  indebted  to  pantheistic  Neo-Platonist  writers. 

Like  Plotinus,  these  false  mystics  thought  that  man's  soul, 
having  reached  a  certain  degree  of  perfection,  was  then  able, 
even  in  this  life,  to  see  the  divine  essence  directly.  This 
vision  of  God  once  obtained  continues  perpetually  in  us  or  is 
reproduced  at  will.  In  such  pure  contemplation  the  soul 
loses  its  personality,  and  is  annihilated  in  the  infinite  essence. 
Its  powers  are  reduced  to  nothing.  The  Christian  in  such 
a  state  of  perfection  can  neither  advance  nor  fall  away ; 
"  grace  so  inundates  his  powers  that  it  is  impossible  for  him 
to  go  backwards  or  forwards."  Further,  "the  perfect  need 
not  make  any  acts  of  virtue."  Thus,  works  are  useless,  as 
well  as  all  external  acts  of  religion,  such  as  attending  Mass 
and  hearing  sermons.  The  inevitable  consequence  of  such 
quietism  was  a  corruption  of  morals.  Michael  Molinos,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  revived  all  these  doctrines  and  ended 
in  the  like  immorality. 

The  error  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Alumbrados,  and 
reveals  traces  of  Arabian  mysticism,  has  to  do  with  mental 
prayer,  the  importance  of  which  is  exaggerated.  "  Mental 
prayer,"  said  the  sectarians,  "  is  divinely  commanded,  and 
by  fulfilling  this  command  we  discharge  all  our  duties."  It 
is  by  contemplation  that  the  vision  of  the  divine  essence  is 
attained,  and  even  thereby  does  the  soul  become  united  with 
the   universal   active   intelligence.      All   that    hinders    prayer 

1  It  was  Cardinal  Andrew  Pacheco  who  drew  up  this  list  of  thirty- 
five  propositions  and  had  it  read  in  all  the  churches  of  Seville. 

3  Hoornaert,  Sainte  Terese  icrivain,  pp.  61-62;  Lea,  A  History  of 
the  Inquisition  of  Spain,  New  York,  1906- 1907. 

3  Hoornaert,  p.  69. 


Before  St  tteresa  87 

must  be  ruthlessly  set  aside,  even  the  consideration  of  Christ's 
humanity  or  obedience  to  one's  superiors.  For  "  the  servants 
of  God  should  not  obey  superiors  in  anything  which  might 
disturb  contemplation."  Here  we  recognize  the  famous 
counsel  attributed  to  Tauler,  about  which  Luther  made  such 
a  stir.  Thus  it  is  "  the  Holy  Ghost  who  rules  the  elect 
inwardly."  The  Illuminati  can  dispense  with  any  other  kind 
of  direction  :  their  thoughts  and  feelings  come  from  God. 
Their  transports  and  raptures  during  prayer  prove  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  dwells  and  works  within  them. 

The  illuminism  of  the  Alumbrados  and  their  mystical  sen- 
timentalism  were  a  perpetual  danger  to  the  ignorance  and 
excessive  sensibility  of  the  Spanish  people.  In  the  first  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century  spiritual  writers  did  their  best  to 
guard  them  from  it  by  their  books,  and  after  1551  it  was  the 
Spanish  Inquisition  that  intervened. 

Ill— SPANISH  SPIRITUAL  WRITERS  PRIOR  TO  THE 
INTERVENTION  OF  THE  INQUISITION— THE 
FRANCISCANS:  ALONSO  OF  MADRID,  FRAN- 
CISCO OF  OSSUNA,  BERNARDINO  OF  LAREDO, 
AND  ST  PETER  OF  ALCANTARA 

The  most  signal  service  rendered  to  the  cause  of  orthodoxy 
by  the  Spanish  spiritual  writers  of  this  period  was  the  putting 
into  the  hands  of  the  faithful  of  good  books  in  the  vernacular.1 
Luis  of  Granada  writes  in  the  Prologue  to  his  Sinners' 
Guide: 

"  Among  the  subjects  for  sorrow  which  we  find  in  the 
heart  of  Christianity  there  is  none  more  serious  than  the 
ignorance  of  Christians  as  to  the  laws  and  foundations  of 
their  religion.  .  .  .  Not  only  children,  but  even  old  men, 
scarcely  know  the  first  elements  of  this  divine  philosophy." 

Disorder  in  morals  and  danger  of  heresy  inevitably  resulted 
from  such  religious  ignorance.  Was  not  the  chief  remedy 
the  assiduous  reading  of  books  teaching  how  to  make  a  good 
confession,  a  devout  communion,  and  how  to  avoid  sin,  to 
practise  virtue,  and  to  pray  to  God  with  devotion?  The 
Sinners'  Guide  and  the  Treatise  on  Prayer,  by  Luis  of 
Granada,  were  the  masterpieces  of  such  works  as  these.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  great  Cardinal 
Ximenes  earnestly  called  for  such  books  for  popular  use. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  in  15 17,  he  had  succeeded  in  pro- 
viding Spain  with  nothing  but  translations  of  foreign  spiritual 

1  Luis  de  Leon  (tsgi)  says  that  it  is  the  duty  of  those  who  can  to 
write  books  of  this  kind  in  the  language  of  the  people  (The  Names  of 
Christ,  Book  I,  p.  40,  French  translation,  Postel,  Paris,   1862). 


ss  Cbrtetian  spirituality 

works.  But  St  Teresa  was  born  on  March  28,  1 5 1 5,  at 
Avila.  The  Cardinal's  wishes  were  to  be  realized  beyond  his 
desire. 

It  was  the  Order  of  St  Francis  which  was  the  first  to 
answer  to  the  yearnings  of  Ximenes.  The  Franciscan, 
Alonso  of  Madrid,  published  The  Art  of  Serving  Cod  (El  arte 
de  servir  a  Dios1)  at  Seville  in  1521.  It  is  far  more  a  book 
of  asceticism  than  of  mysticism.  Plainly  the  author  wanted 
to  put  his  readers  on  their  guard  against  the  too  sensible 
manifestations  of  piety,  which  are  so  productive  of  illusions.3 

The  book  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  first  contains 
the  general  principles  of  perfection,  and  denounces  the  false 
notions  that  may  be  formed  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  second 
is  practical.  It  teaches  self-knowledge  and  how  to  practise 
virtue,  and  to  give  oneself  up  to  prayer.  It  is  only  in  the 
third  that  the  reader  is  initiated  into  divine  love.  The  writer 
observes  the  restrictions  demanded  by  the  circumstances. 
St  Teresa  read  Alonso's  treatise,  and  recommended  it  to  her 
religious  for  meditational  prayer  :  "  In  this  degree  [of 
prayer],"  she  said,  "  it  is  a  good  thing  to  make  frequent  acts 
to  stimulate  one's  generosity  in  the  service  of  God,  to  kindle 
one's  love  or  to  fortify  one's  virtues.  This  is  the  counsel  of 
a  book  entitled  The  Art  of  Serving  God,  an  excellent  work, 
perfectly  adapted  to  this  degree,  in  which  the  understanding 
is  at  work."3 

Six  years  later,  in  1527,  there  appeared  at  Toledo  a 
treatise  on  the  prayer  of  recollection,  Francisco  of  Ossuna's 
Third  Primer  of  Spirituality.  It  was  a  bold  matter  to 
publish  a  treatise  of  mysticism  in  Spanish  at  this  period, 
especially  since  the  writer,  not  satisfied  with  popularizing  the 

1  In  the  Nueva  Biblioteca  de  autores  esfanoles,  Escritores  mysticos 
esfanoles,  Vol.  I,  pp.  588-634.  It  is  a  reproduction  of  the  Alcala  edition 
of  1526.  There  is  another  edition  by  Jaime  Sala.  Valencia,  1903;  a 
reproduction  of  the  1570  edition.  Then  there  is  the  Meditations  for 
Holy  Week,  by  Alonso  of  Madrid.  In  1523  and  1524  there  appeared 
at  Toledo  and  Burgos  the  Arte  de  bien  confessar,  both  anonymous. 

2  St  Francis  de  Sales  wrote  to  St  Jane  Chantal  (April,  1606)  about 
this  book.  It  "  is  good,  but  more  embarrassed  and  difficult  than  you 
need  :  The  Spiritual  Combat  contains  all  that  is  in  it,  and  is  clearer  and 
more  methodical." 

1   Vie  ecrite  far  elle-meme,  chap,  xii,  Ed.  Polit,  I,  158. 

*  Miguel  Mir,  Vol.  I,  pp.  319-587.  This  is  the  Burgos  edition  of 
1544.  Francis  of  Ossuna,  an  Andalusian  Franciscan,  wrote  three 
Primers.  The  first  (of  1527)  is  the  third  in  the  complete  edition;  then 
the  first  appeared  in  1528,  and  next  the  second  in  1530.  The  complete 
work  Abecedarios  esfirituales  was  published  at  Seville  in  1554.  The 
Abecedarios  are  thus  called,  because  each  of  them  contains  as  many 
treatises  as  there  are  letters  in  the  alphabet,  each  treatise  beginning 
with  a  letter.  Francis  of  Ossuna  also  published  The  Law  of  Love  in 
1530,  in  which  he  sums  up  the  three  Abecedarios.  Cf.  P.  Michel-Ange, 
Revista  de  Archivos,  1912,  I. 


Before  St  Ceresa  89 

higher  mysticism,  seemed  to  rally  some  who  were  afraid 
of  it.  II  it  was  objected  that  these  are  dangerous  matters 
and  that  the  devil  may  lurk  beneath  them,  he  replied  he  may 

also  hide  behind  the  door  of  the  Church,  but  that  people  did 
not  cease  from  entering  thereby  on  that  account.1  The 
prudent  John  of  Avila  declared  that  The  Third  Primer  is  not 
suited  to  all  the  faithful,  and  that  there  are  perhaps  certain 
objections  to  scattering-  it  broadcast  amongst  the  general 
public."  It  is  a  wonder  that  the  author  escaped  the  Inhuma- 
tions of  the  Inquisition,  since  it  spared  scarcely  anyone  a  lew 
3  cars  later. 

It  is  true  that  Francisco  of  Ossuna  made  some  corrections 
in  those  respects  in  which  he  might  have  been  too  daring. 
He  soon  wrote  the  first  and  second  Abecedarios,  works  of 
ascetic  theology.  In  the  First  Primer  the  pious  Franciscan 
speaks,  as  a  true  son  of  St  Francis,  of  the  passion  and  the 
sorrows  of  Christ.  The  mvsticism  of  the  Third  Primer  was 
thus  enclosed  in  a  doctrinal  whole,  the  different  parts  of 
which  threw  light  upon  each  other. 

But  it  was  the  mystical  work  of  Francisco  of  Ossuna  that 
specially  attracted  the  attention  of  posterity.  It  is  this 
which  perhaps  contributed  most  to  the  spiritual  training  of 
St  Teresa.3 

In  it  is  found  a  fairly  complete  synthesis  of  practical  Fran- 
ciscan mvsticism,  a  sort  of  mystical  therapy  of  the  soul 
which  must  be  followed  by  it  to  attain  to  the  prayer  of 
recollection. i 

Francisco  of  Ossuna  arranges  his  discipline  according  to 
the  psychology  of  the  mystics  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
imagination  and  the  external  senses,  the  affections,  the 
memory,  the  spiritual  senses,  the  will,  and  the  understanding 
successively  undergo  the  mystical  treatment  which  will  make 
them  assist  in  attaining  the  desired  recollection. 

The  imagination  will  be  stripped  of  all  created  images,  and 
the  senses  must  be  cut  off  from  outward  impressions,  for  the 
control  of  images  is  essential  to  recollection,  and  that  of  the 
senses  is  equally  necessary.  Further,  the  soul's  affections 
must  be  turned  from  the  carnal  and  increasingly  directed 
towards  the  spiritual.  At  the  same  time,  the  memory  must 
be  filled  with  God  and  the  thought  of  his  benefits.  This 
mystical  role  of  the  memory  was  always  considered  most 
important  by  spiritual  writers  : 

"  To    think   or   remember   that   one    is    in   the   presence   of 

1  Hoornaert,  op.  cit.,  p.  329. 

2  Epistolario  espirilnal,  ed.  Ribadeneira,  p.  321. 

8  Cf.    Vie,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres  de  sainte  Terese,  Vol.  I,  pp.  70-71. 

4  The  first  five  treatises  of  the  Tercer  Abecedario  aim  at  detachment 
from  sin  and  things  created.  The  sixth  begins  with  recollection  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  word. 


9°  Cbristian  Spirituality 

God,  and  to  represent  him  as  present  before  one  are  one  and 
the  same  thing."1 

This  habitual  remembrance  of  the  presence  of  God 
increases  the  soul's  relish  for  the  divine.  We  possess  a  kind 
of  "  spiritual  sensibility  "  which  enables  us  to  perceive  the 
"  touches  "  of  heavenly  consolations.  Francisco  of  Ossuna, 
gifted  with  an  Andalusian  sensibility,  gives  much  importance 
to  this  spiritual  sense.  He  greatly  prefers  the  "  spiritual 
sense  "  to  book-knowledge,  for  it  imparts  experience  of  the 
divine  instead  of  a  knowledge  which  is  purely  theoretical. 
Moreover,  he  cannot  understand  those  who  tell  people  not 
"  to  look  for  divine  consolation  and  the  enjoyment  of  things 
spiritual."2 

Like  St  Francis  of  Assisi,  the  author  of  the  Third  Primer 
regards  mystical  joy  as  a  necessary  condition  for  interior 
recollection  : 

"  In  recollection,"  he  says,  "  a  man  will  advance  the  more, 
the  more  he  keeps  joy  in  his  heart,  which  should  be  offered 
with  joy  when  offered  to  God."3 

Nothing  is  more  fatal  to  devotion  than  a  bad  spirit  of 
gloom.  Holy  enthusiasm  in  the  service  of  God  soon  brings 
the  will  "  to  act  for  and  through  love  only."4 

"  I  have  observed,"  says  Francisco,  "  that  in  this  way  of 
recollection  the  down-hearted  make  but  little  progress,  and 
that  the  joyous  who  consecrate  their  joy  to  God  advance 
greatly."5 

But  joy  and  other  feelings  are  but  handmaids  of  the  will 
which  must  finally  rule  the  whole  of  man's  interior  life,  for 
"  all  our  spiritual  progress  depends  upon  the  disposition  and 
preparation  of  the  will,  and  such  good  will  is  the  measure 
of  the  graces  bestowed  upon  us  by  the  Lord."6 

Lastly,  the  education  of  the  understanding  must  also  be 
made  in  the  medieval  fashion.  The  understanding  must  be 
kept  in  peace  and  silence ;  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
praver  of  recollection,  in  which  by  the  silence  of  the  under- 
standing and  the  forgetting  of  images  the  soul  withdraws 
into  God  and  abandons  itself  to  him  in  love.7  "To  practise 
recollection,"  says  Francisco  of  Ossuna,  "  is  in  some  sort  to 
be  transformed  into  the  object  of  our  recollection."8 

1  Tercer  Abecedario,  trat.  XI,  cap.  iii ;  Trad.  Etchegoyen,  V Amour 
Divin,  Essai  sur  les  sources  de  sainte  Therese,  Bordeaux-Paris,  1923, 
p.  126.  St  Peter  of  Alcantara  and  Luis  of  Granada  also  speak  of  the 
"  remembrance  of  God." 

*  id.,  trat.  XII,  cap.  iii. 

3  id.,  trat.  3*,  cap.  v.     Cf.  La  loi  d'amour,  XVII. 

4  Treatise  XVI  deals  chiefly  with  such  love.  Treatises  XVII,  XIX 
and  XX  deal  with  outward  mortifications. 

6  Tercer  Abecedario,  trat.  XIII,  cap.  iv. 

6  id.,  trat.  XV,  cap.  vi.  Etchegoyen,  152,  153. 

'  id.,  trat.  XXI.  8  id.,  trat.  XIV,  cap.  vii, 


Before  St  XTeresa  91 

Such  recollection  is  the  end  of  the  fervent  Christian's 
endeavours,  and  it  has  several  degrees  :  (i)  The  recollection 
which  gently  quiets  the  powers  of  the  soul;  (2)  that  in 
which  the  intelligence  is  still  working ;  (3)  a  more  perfect 
kind  in  which  the  soul  becomes  enclosed  within  itself,  as  in 
a  prison  firmly  locked,  for  the  enjoyment  of  God ;  (4)  ecstatic 
recollection. l 

We  can  conjecture  what  St  Teresa  was  to  learn  from  the 
Tercer  Abecedario.  She  was  also  much  impressed  by  the 
style  of  this  remarkable  work,  full  of  rich  feeling  and  brilliant 
imagination.  Francisco  is  a  born  writer.  For  the  expres- 
sion of  mystical  realities  he  found  comparisons  which  were 
to  become  classical  in  Spain  and  to  be  immortalized  by  the 
authoress  of  the  Carmelite  reform.2  Thanks  to  the  mystics, 
the  Spanish  tongue  begins  to  speak  "  the  language  of  the 
angels." 

The  welcome  given  to  the  works  of  Alonso  of  Madrid  and 
of  Francisco  of  Ossuna  encouraged  the  Franciscan  Order  to 
bring  out  other  mystical  publications.  In  1535  there  ap- 
peared at  Seville  the  Subida  del  monie  Sion3  (The  Ascent  of 
Mount  Sion),  the  work  of  an  Andalusian  Franciscan  lay- 
brother,  Bernardino  of  Laredo.4 

The  third  part  of  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Sion  is  a  real 
treatise  on  the  prayer  of  quietude  and  of  the  prayer  of  union.5 
This  it  was  that  made  the  work  of  Bernardino  famous,  and 
calmed  St  Teresa  when,  about  1556,  at  forty-one  years  of 
age,  she  was  raised  to  the  prayer  of  quietude,  and  was 
"  unable  to  meditate  on  the  Passion,"  and  felt  that  she  was 
bereft  of  "  the  help  of  the  understanding."6 

It  is  just  this  twofold  inability  to  meditate  on  the  mysteries 
of  the  life  of  Christ  and  to  reason  discursively  that  charac- 
terizes the  prayer  of  quietude,  according  to  the  Subida  del 
monte  Sion.  In  this  mystical  state  the  soul  is  united 
with  God,  and  contemplates  the  divinity  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  else  : 

"  The  perfection  of  love,"  says  Bernardino,  "  does  not  con- 

1  Tercer  Abecedario,  trat.   XXI. 

2  Cf.  Hoornaert,  Saint e  Terese  icrivain,  pp.  332  ff.  F.  of  Ossuna 
already  reveals  traces  of  a  preciosity  of  style  which  did  injury  to 
Spanish  literature  later  on. 

3  There  were  many  editions;  the  last  at  Alcala,  in  161 7,  which  also 
contains  Bernardino's  Letters  and  Jose-phina,  an  epitome  of  the  praises 
of  St  Joseph. 

*  Born  at  Seville  in  1482.  He  was  doctor  to  John  II  of  Portugal, 
became  a  Franciscan  in  1510,  and  died  at  Seville  in  1545. 

6  The  first  part  teaches  self-knowledge  through  discursive  meditation, 
the  second  the  knowledge  and  love  of  Christ  by  affective  meditation ; 
the  third  is  strictly  mystical. 

'  Vie,  chap,  xxiii. 


92  Christian  Spirituality 

sist  in  meditating-  upon  the  holy  Humanity  [of  Christ],  but 
in  calm  and  perfected  contemplation  of  the  inaccessible 
Divinity."1 

The  absolute  silence  of  the  powers  is  the  indispensable 
condition  of  such  contemplation.  "  This  sleep  of  the  powers 
keeps  the  soul  awake  for  the  soaring  of  ardent  love."'  Ber- 
nardino of  Laredo  tries  to  explain  this  powerlessness  to 
reflect,  this  necessity  of  thinking  of  nothing  (No  pensar 
nada),  of  which  all  the  mystics  since  the  pseudo-Dionysius 
have  said  so  much.  Especially  does  he  throw  into  relief  the 
essentially  gratuitous  character  of  such  quietude.  No  device 
of  man  can  attain  to  such  contemplation.  Only  the  good- 
ness of  God  can  raise  the  soul  thereto,  and  thus  this  kind 
of  contemplation  is  clearly  distinguished  from  that  which  is 
active  and  the  result  of  mental  work.2 


The  transition  from  active  kinds  of  prayer,  in  which  the 
understanding  is  still  at  work,  to  infused  and  passive  con- 
templation, in  which  its  working  has  entirely  ceased,  is  par- 
ticularly hard  to  make.  St  Teresa  acknowledges  that  in  her 
time  there  were  "  long  discussions  on  the  subject  between 
several  spiritual  persons."3  We  must  not  try  to  encroach 
upon  grace,  she  thought,  nor  to  fetter  the  work  of  the  mind, 
before  God  has  introduced  the  soul  into  quietude.  In  sup- 
port of  her  view,  St  Teresa  alleges  the  authority  of  the  most 
illustrious  Spanish  Franciscan  mystic  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, St  Peter  of  Alcantara,4  the  author  of  a  Treatise  on 
Prayer  and  Meditation  (Tratado  de  la  Oration  y  Meditation).5 

A  man  of  prayer  if  ever  there  was  one,  St  Peter  of 
Alcantara  had  no  fixed  time  for  prayer.  All  times  and  places 
were  proper  for  him  to  lose  himself  in  contemplation.  His 
spiritual  concentration  in  God  did  not  hinder  him  from  giving 
himself    up    to    other    occupations    and    from    keeping   watch 

1  Subida  del  monte  Sion,  Part  III,  chap.  ix. 

2  id.,  Part  III,  xviii,  xxv,  xxvi. 

3  Interior  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  Vol.  III. 

4  Born  at  Alcantara  in  Estramadura  in  1499,  when  16  he  joined  the 
Discalced  Friars  Minor.  He  became  Provincial  of  the  province  of 
St  Gabriel,  and  was  the  promoter  of  a  most  austere  reform.  The 
reformed  convents  founded  by  him  formed  the  province  of  St  Joseph. 
He  died  at  Arenas,  near  Avila,  in  1562.  St  Teresa  praises  him  in 
justly  famous  words,  Life,  chaps,  xxvii  and  xxxix.  The  saint  left  an 
account  of  St  Teresa's  prayer,  CEuvres  de  saint e  Terese,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  444  ff.  Cf.  Uillustre  fredestini  or  the  Vie  de  saint  Pierre 
d'  Alcantara,  by  F.  Marchese,  French  translation,  Lyons,  1670;  Paris, 
1691. 

8  Published  at  Lisbon  between  1556  and  1560,  by  Joannes  Blavio, 
in  a  volume  containing  other  little  treatises  by  St  Peter  of  Alcantara, 
and  a  treatise,  by  Savonarola,  on  the  Three  Vows.  Recent  ed.  by 
P.  Ubald  d'Alencon,  Paris,  1923.  In  the  Treatise  there  are  two  parts, 
the  first  on  prayer,  the  second  on  devotion. 


Before  St  Teresa  93 

over  everything-.  Like  Teresa,  he  was  able  to  combine 
the  contemplative  with  the  active  life.1 

His  Treatise  on  Prayer  and  Meditation  is  a  summary  of 
that  of  Luis  of  Granada.2  To  it  he  added  his  own  experience 
of  the  spiritual  ways.  He  aims  at  teaching  the  faithful  such 
devotion  as  consists  in  doing  good  promptly  and  without 
repugnance,  and  this  devotion  is  the  fruit  of  prayer.  Through 
Luis  of  Granada  and  St  Peter  of  Alcantara,  the  Spanish 
School  helps  us  to  understand  beforehand  the  teaching  of 
St  Francis  de  Sales'  Introduction  to  the  Devout  Life. 

The  Christian  who  wishes  to  ensure  his  salvation  must 
give  himself  up  to  meditation.  This  is  hard.  It  demands 
effort.  But  let  no  one  be  discouraged.  Meditation  is  the  way 
to  attain  to  contemplation  in  which  there  is  no  hardship. 
"When  the  ship  has  come  into  port  navigation  is  over." 
Through  the  action  of  grace  meditation  is  changed  into  con- 
templation, a  transformation  so  deeply  studied  by  St  Teresa  : 

"When  anyone,"  says  St  Peter  of  Alcantara,3  "through 
the  work  of  meditation  has  found  repose  and  come  to  relish 
contemplation,  he  must  then  cease  from  that  pious  but  toil- 
some endeavour.  Satisfied  with  simply  seeing  and  with  the 
thought  of  God,  as  if  he  saw  him  present,  he  should  restfully 
enjoy  the  feelings  of  love  or  of  admiration  or  of  joy,  or  any 
other  such  feeling  as  it  may  please  God  to  give  him.  The 
reason  for  this  advice  and  for  such  conduct  is  this  :  as  the 
end  of  the  soul's  intercourse  with  God  in  prayer  consists 
much  more  in  love  than  in  speculation  of  the  understanding, 
when  the  will  has  already  become  seized  and  possessed  by 
this  affection,  we  should,  as  far  as  possible,  avoid  all  dis- 
course and  all  the  speculations  of  the  understanding  in  order 
that  the  soul  may  be  wholly  occupied  with  the  enjoyment 
of  the  feeling  of  which  we  have  just  spoken." 

The  soul  must  then  be  enclosed  within  itself,  where  is 
the  image  of  God,  and  there  abide  in  attention,  like  a  man 
listening  to  someone  speaking  to  him  from  the  top  of  a 
tower,  or  as  if  it  held  God  within  and  was  alone  in  the 
universe  to  converse  with  him.4 

1  Marchese,  Book  IV,  chap.  x. 

2  This  seems  to  be  the  upshot  of  the  fairly  lively  controversy  between 
the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  on  the  priority  of  the  Treatise  of 
Prayer  and  Meditation,  by  Luis  of  Granada,  over  that  by  St  Peter 
of  Alcantara.  See  on  Luis  of  Granada's  side,  P.  Justo  Cuervo,  O.P., 
Biografihia  de  Fr.  Luis  de  Granada,  Madrid,  1896;  Revista  de 
Archivos,  Madrid,  1918  ff.  On  St  Peter  of  Alcantara's  side,  see  P. 
Michel-Ange,  Revista,  1916  and  1917;  Estudios  Franciscanos,  Barcelona, 
1919-1921.  Cf.  Etudes  franciscaines ,  Paris,  1923,  pp.  19S  ff.  ;  Revue 
d'ascetique  et  de  mystique  (1921),  pp.  384-401  ;  (1922),  pp.  301-332. 

*  Tratado  de  la  Oracion  y  Meditation,  Part  I,  chap,  xii,  8th  notice; 
R.  Hoornaert,  of.  cit.,  p.  380;  Ubald  dAlencon,  p.   145. 

*  The  Order  of  St  Francis  had  other  spiritual  writers  in  Spain  in 
the  sixteenth  century.     Among  these  was  John  of  Bonilla,  author  of  a 


94  Christian  Spirituality 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  during  this  period  there  are 
nothing-  but  works  of  mysticism.  On  the  contrary,  popular 
books  full  of  counsels  for  a  devout  Christian  life  are  the 
most  numerous,  if  not  the  most  famous.1 

The  illustrious  Franciscan  who  was  Court  preacher  to 
Charles  V,  and  also  a  fervent  humanist,  as  well  known 
throughout  Europe  as  Erasmus,2  Antonio  de  Guevara  insists 
in  his  Monte  Calvaria,  published  in  1528,  on  recalling-  the 
principles  of  Christian  morality.  His  Oratorio  de  religiosos, 
of  1542,  is  a  manual  of  the  monastic  and  religious  life  noticed 
by  St  Teresa.3 

One  of  the  most  appreciated  popularizers  of  spiritual  teach- 
ing is  the  Canon  Regular,  Alonzo  of  Orozco.  An  eminent 
preacher  and  John  of  Castile's  confessor,  he  was  also  a 
master  of  ascetical  and  mystical  theology.  He  discovered 
a  wealth  of  symbolism  in  his  description  of  the  highest  of 
spiritual  states  while  also  inspiring  simple  Christians  with 
the  love  of  true  and  sound  devotion.  Like  Francisco  of 
Ossuna,  Bernardino  of  Laredo,  and  especially  St  Teresa,  he 
had  received  from  God  the  gift  of  describing  the  manifesta- 
tions of   mysticism.4 


T  rat  ado  de  la  Paz  de  V  Alma,  which  appeared  at  Alcantara  in  1580, 
often  republished,  and  once  more  at  Paris,  1912.  This  Treatise  of 
fifteen  chapters  inspired  certain  parts  of  Scupoli's  Spiritual  Combat. 
I  shall  speak  of  it  again  under  Italian  Spirituality.  The  teaching  of 
the  Treatise  of  the  Soul's  Peace  seems  to  be  as  much  Italian  as  Spanish. 
Several  Italian  and  Spanish  editions  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  contain 
this  Treatise  under  the  title,  Sentiero  del  faradiso.  On  John  of 
Bonilla,  see  Wadding,  Annates  ordinis  Minorum,  Rome,  Vol.  IX,  p.  335  ; 
Scriptores  ord.  Minorum,  Rome,  1650,  p.  194.  Note,  too,  Andrew  of 
Ortega,  O.M.,  Tratado  del  Camino  del  Espiritu,  Toledo,  1550;  Gabriel 
de  Toro,  O.M.,  Teulugia  mistica,  union  del  alma  con  Dio,  Saragossa, 
1548;  Diego  Murillo,  Escala  spiritual,  Saragossa,  1598;  John  of  the 
Angels,  Los  trionfos  del  amor  de  Dios,  Medina  del  Campo,  1590,  re- 
published with  other  mystical  works  at  Madrid,  1912-1917  (Nueva  Bibl. 
de  Aut.  Esp.,  Vols.  XX,  XXIV). 

1  In  1532  appeared  the  Libro  de  doctrina  cristiana  of  Gutierre 
Gonzalez;  in  1534  the  Soliloquios  de  la  Passion  de  N.  S.,  the  Desfer- 
tador  de  peccatores,  the  Ejercitatorio  de  la  Vida  spiritual,  by  Orozco 
presumably;  in  1535,  at  Valencia,  an  Espejo  de  bien  vivir. — On 
Poverty,  Virginity,  and  Mortification,  see  the  works  of  an  anonymous 
Franciscan  :  the  Mysterios  de  la  devocion,  Burgos,  1537  ;  the  Manual 
para  la  eterna  salvacion,  Saragossa,  1539 ;  the  Vergel  de  Virginidad, 
Burgos,  1539. 

2  Cf.  Montaigne,  Essais,  II,  2. 

8  He  also  published  the  Menosprecio  de  Corte  y  Alabama  de  Aldea, 
1539,  a  masterpiece  of  humanist  morality. 

4  A  collection  (Recopilacion)  of  Alonzo  of  Orozco's  works  appeared 
at  Valladolid  in  1555.  It  comprises  six  treatises  of  various  dates  : 
Examination  of  Conscience  for  confession ;  The  Orchard  of  Prayer  and 
the  Mountain  of  Contemplation,  Seville,  1544;  The  Metnorial  of  Holy 
Love;  the  Rule  of  Christian  Life;  Spiritual  Marriage ;  How  to  Jolloiv 
the    Gospel.      Alonzo    of    Orozco    published    other    works    afterwards. 


before  St  Ueresa  95 

IV  — THE  DOMINICANS:  LUIS  OF  GRANADA, 
MELCHIOR  CANO,  BARTHOLOMEW  OF  THE 
MARTYRS— ST  TERESA'S  DOMINICAN  CON- 
FESSORS 

The  science  of  prayer  was  taught  in  a  still  broader  and  more 
personal  way  by  the  Dominican  Luis  of  Granada,  one  of  the 
most  influential  authors  of  the  Spanish  School. 

He  was  born  at  Granada  in  1505.1  In  1524  he  joined  the 
Dominicans  of  Granada  in  their  Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
He  was  much  influenced  by  humanism.  He  became  familiar 
with  the  classics,  and  later  liked  to  quote  the  ancient  philo- 
sophers, even  making-  collections  of  their  moral  maxims. 
But  he  delighted  especially  in  early  Christian  writers.  He 
drew  much  from  the  Fathers  of  the  desert,  as  did  also  the 
good-natured  Alfonso  Rodriguez,  the  writer  of  The  Prac- 
tice of  Christian  Perfection. 

Returning  to  Granada  in  1534,  the  famous  Dominican 
preached  so  successfully  that  the  renown  of  his  worth  at  last 
reached  the  Court  of  Lisbon  to  which  he  was  summoned. 
There  he  became  the  director  of  Catherine,  the  Regent  of 
Portugal.  He  refused  the  archbishopric  of  Braga  to  keep 
his  time  and  strength  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  by 
preaching  and  writing.     He  died  at  Lisbon  in   1588. 

Teaching  the  people  !  Luis  of  Granada  devoted  his  life  to 
it.  In  his  zeal  he  was  alarmed  by  the  dangers  which  the 
people's  faith  incurred  through  their  ignorance  of  religion. 
When  people  know  not  how  to  pray,  nor  how  to  confess, 
nor  how  to  communicate  as  they  ought,  they  run  great  risk, 
he  thought,  of  being  seduced  by  the  artifices  of  heresy. 

Luis  of  Granada  was  one  of  the  best  workers  in  the 
spiritual  crusade  against  the  Protestants  and  the  Alum- 
brados.  Preaching  was  his  chief  weapon.  He  gave  himself 
up  to  it  with  an  altogether  apostolic  zeal.  His  many  sermons 
for  the  Proper  of  the  season  and  for  the  Feasts  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  saints,  which  St  Charles  Borromeo 
loved  to  quote,   form   the  largest  part  of  his  works.2     But 

Among  others,  the  Vitoria  del  mundo,  Alcala,  1570;  Efistolario 
christiano,  Alcala,  1567;  The  Story  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  or  how  a 
Christian  should  serve  and  worship  Jesus,  King  of  Kings,  Salamanca, 

1575- 

1  Luis  Muoz,    lida  de  Fr.    Luis  de   Granada,   Madrid,    1788;   Justo 

Cuervo,  O.P.,  Biografia  de  Fr.  Luis  de  Granada,  1896. 

2  Complete  edition  of  his  Works,  by  Denis  Sanchez,  Madrid,  1679; 
another  edition,  Madrid,  1787-1800.  Recent  critical  edition,  by  Justo 
Cuervo,  Obras  de  fray  Luis  de  Granada,  Madrid,  1906  ff.,  14 
vols,  have  hitherto  appeared.  French  translation,  by  Girard,  Paris, 
1667 ;  by  Simon  Martin,  Lyons,  1677  ;  by  Abbe  Bareille,  CEuvres  com- 
fletes  de  Louis  de  Grenade,  22  vols.,  Paris,  1862-1868. 


96  Christian  Spirituality 

he  believed  that  books  in  the  vernacular  should  be  added  to 
preaching-.  The  reading-  of  good  books  is  the  principal 
remedy  against  religious  ignorance,  is  it  not?  But  all  did 
not  agree  with  him,  and  the  learned  Dominican  had  later 
on  to  endure  very  trying  contradictions  on  this  account. 

Moreover,  in  1554,  at  Salamanca,  when  he  published  his 
first  book  of  spirituality,  Libro  de  la  Oracion  y  Meditation,1 
they  were  beginning  to  be  uneasy  in  Spain  about  the  diffusion 
of  false  mysticism.  Luis  of  Granada,  too,  was  careful  to 
confine  himself  strictly  to  asceticism,  and  he  avoids  all 
questions  connected  with  extraordinary  states.  Only  two 
years  later,  as  if  the  better  to  explain  his  mind,  he  brought 
out  at  Lisbon  the  sequel  of  his  study  on  prayer,  The  Sinners' 
Guide,  a  work  of  pure  asceticism.  Despite  these  precautions, 
the  two  first  books  by  Luis  of  Granada  were  put  on  the  Index 
by  the  Spanish  Inquisition  in  1559.  They  had  to  be  revised 
and  republished  in   1567. 

Further  on  we  shall  revert  to  these  occurrences. 

Luis  of  Granada  is  one  of  the  first  spiritual  writers,  after 
St  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  to  formulate  a  method  of  prayer 
intended  for  those  living  in  the  world.2  His  aim,  like  that 
of  St  Ignatius,  is  to  lead  all  Christians,  and  not  only  monks 
and  religious,  to  the  practice  of  prayer.  Hence,  he  was 
smitten  with  censure  ;  his  claim  to  teach  everyone  the  prac- 
tice without  any  exceptions  was  then  in  Spain  considered 
dangerous  and  likely  to  promote  llluminism. 

Like  everybody  at  that  time,  Luis  of  Granada  grieved  over 
the  inconsistency  of  Christian  conduct  and  belief  : 

"  On  all  sides,"  he  writes  in  the  Prologue  of  his  Libro  de 
la  Oracion  y  Meditation,3  "  we  find  a  host  of  people  who 
are  irreproachable  in  faith,  but  disorderly  in  life.  .  .  .  Their 
faith  is  like  money  in  a  cash-box,  or  a  sword  in  its  sheath, 
or  medicine  on  a  chemist's  shelf — that  is  to  say,  it  is  not 
used  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended.     They  readily 

1  Besides  the  Sermons,  the  chief  works  of  Luis  of  Granada  are  the 
Libro  de  la  Oracion  y  Meditation,  Salamanca,  1^59;  the  Guida  de 
Pecadores ;  the  Memorial  de  la  Vida  Christiana ;  the  Adiciones  al 
Memorial;  the  Introduccion  al  Simbolo  de  la  Fe;  a  translation  of 
The  Imitation  of  Christ,  and  of  The  Ladder  of  Paradise  of  St  John 
Climacus  ;  the  Life  of  Bartholomew  of  the  Martyrs,  Dominican,  Arch- 
bishop of  Braga,  and  the  Life  of  Blessed  John  of  Avila. 

2  Before  him,  however,  several  works,  meant  for  all  the  faithful  and 
dealing  with  prayer  and  contemplation,  had  been  published  in  Spain. 
In  1541  Bernal  Diaz  de  Lugo  published  the  Soliloquio  at  Burgos;  in 
1542,  an  anonymous  Tratado  de  la  Oracion.  In  1544  Alonzo  of  Orozco 
published  a  remarkable  book,  the  Vergel  de  la  Oracion  y  monte  de 
content piacion;  in  1545  Martin  of  Azpilcueta  published  a  Tratado  de 
la  Oracion  at  Coimbra.  These  are  the  principal  treatises  of  this  kind, 
meant  to  popularize  the  practice  of  prayer.  None  of  them  gives  such  a 
complete  method  of  prayer  as  Luis  of  Granada's. 

*  BareihVs  translation,  Vol.  XI,  p.  5.  Cf.  Couissinier's  translation, 
Paris,  1868,  Vol.  I,  p.  3. 


JBefore  St  Ucvcsa  97 

believe  in  what  the  Church  believes,  in  the  judgement,  in  the 
punishment  in  store  for  the  wicked,  and  in  the  glory  which 
will  reward  the  just;  but  they  believe  quite  unreflectingly, 
and  never  ask  themselves  what  this  judgement  and  these 
punishments  and  rewards  may  be." 

There  are,  according  to  him,  two  great  impediments  to 
prayer.  The  chief  one  is  inexperience ;  we  know  not  what 
to  think  about  or  how  to  think  about  it.  The  other  is  a 
want  of  fervour  and  devotion  which  makes  our  meditation 
subject  to  distractions  and  aridities. 

Luis  of  Granada  wrote  his  book  to  remedy  this  evil.  He 
first  provides  subjects  for  meditation  and  then  sets  forth  a 
method.  Afterwards  he  shows  the  difficulties  involved  in 
prayer  and  points  out  the  means  of  overcoming  them.1 

Fourteen  fully  elaborated  subjects  for  meditation  are  pro- 
posed at  the  outset  for  one  week.  Two  meditations  are 
provided  for  each  day.  In  the  morning  the  subject  is  to  be 
the  Saviour's  Passion,  and  in  the  evening  it  is  to  be  on  the 
Last  Things.2  Here  the  influence  of  the  Ejercitatorio  of 
Garcia  de  Cisneros  is  plain. 

Then  comes  the  method  of  prayer  to  be  followed  by  begin- 
ners and  intended  to  guide  their  inexperience ;  but  it  is  not 
required  by  others.  It  shows  "  novices  the  way  .  .  .  ;  as 
soon  as  they  have  started  on  it,  the  Holy  Spirit  will  teach 
them  the  rest."  3 

The  method  includes  six  parts  :  preparation,  reading  the 
subject,  meditation,  thanksgiving,  offering,  and  petition. 

Above  all,  there  must  be  preparation  of  the  heart.  "  To 
play  the  vielle  we  must  begin  by  tuning  it."  Like  St 
Ignatius,  Luis  of  Granada  counsels  us  to  arrange  for  a  review 
of  the   subject  the   night  before,    "  like  those   who   have   to 

1  Luis  of  Granada  drew  upon  the  Ejercitatorio  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros 
and  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius  and  the  T  rat  ado  de  la 
Oracion  (Alcala,  1551)  of  Antonio  Porras.  He  is  also  much  indebted 
to  the  Italian,  Serafino  da  Fermo,  Canon  Regular  of  St  Augustine, 
author  of  the  Treatises  on  the  Spiritual  Life,  which  were  translated 
into  Castilian  and  published  at  Coimbra  in  1551  and  at  Salamanca  in 
I552-  ^'e  shall  again  meet  with  this  writer  when  we  come  to  the 
Italian  School. 

*  Libro  de  la  Oracion  y  Meditacion,  Part  I,  chap.  ii.  In  the 
morning:  Monday,  the  Institution  of  the  Eucharist;  Tuesday,  the 
Agony  and  Seizure  of  Jesus ;  Wednesday,  Jesus  at  the  Tribunal  and 
the  Scourging ;  Thursday,  the  Ecce  Homo  and  the  Bearing  of  the 
Cross;  Friday,  the  Cross  and  the  Seven  Words;  Saturday,  the  Lance, 
the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  Mary's  Sorrow,  the  Burial;  Sunday,  the 
Resurrection.  In  the  evening  :  Monday,  Knowledge  of  oneself  and 
cf  one"s  Sins;  Tuesday,  the  Miseries  of  this  life;  Wednesday,  Death; 
Thursday,  the  Last  Judgement;  Friday,  Hell;  Saturday,  Heaven; 
Sunday,  God's  blessings. 

3  Libro,  Part  I,  chap,  iii  (Bareille,  Vol.  XI,  p.  210).  Luis  of  Granada 
sums  up  his  Libro  in  the  Sixth  Treatise  of  the  Memorial  of  the 
Christian  Life. 

III.  j 


98  Cbristian  Spirituality 

knead  dough  next  morning  and  must  get  it  ready  the 
evening  before."1  "  As  soon  as  we  are  awake,  let  the 
thought  of  our  prayer  be  the  first  to  fill  the  mind.  In 
the  morning,  when  we  have  reached  the  place  where  we  are 
to  pray,  let  us  think  of  the  incomparable  majesty  of  him  with 
whom  we  are  about  to  converse."2  Like  Garcia  de  Cisneros, 
Luis  of  Granada  recommends  us  to  put  ourselves  in  the 
presence  of  God  at  the  beginning  of  the  meditation.  St 
Francis  de  Sales  made  this  a  standard  practice.  As  a  pre- 
paration for  prayer,  it  is  also  quite  natural  to  be  stirred  to 
repentance  of  our  sins  and  to  humble  ourselves  before  God, 
and  to  ask  him  to  give  us  the  grace  to  do  these  things  well. 
On  all  these  matters  Luis  of  Granada  gives  very  useful  advice. 

The  preparation  is  followed  by  reading  the  subject.  This 
must  be  done  "  slowly  and  thoughtfully,  trying  to  grasp 
with  the  understanding  the  sense  of  the  words  and  to  relish 
with  the  will  the  truths  which  they  express."3  Like  St 
Ignatius,  Luis  of  Granada  calls  into  play  the  understanding, 
the  will,  and  the  memory,  but  he  sets  them  going  with  a 
less  military  swing.  The  reading  must  not  be  long,  for  its 
aim  is  to  stimulate  reflections  and  especially  prayer ;  and  it 
should  cease  as  soon  as  its  end  is  reached. 

The  meditation  after  the  reading  may  be  imaginative  or 
intellectual,  according  to  whether  it  has  to  do  with  subjects 
such  as  the  facts  of  the  Life  or  of  the  Passion  of  Christ, 
which  are  easily  imagined,  or  with  realities  such  as  the  divine 
perfections,  which  simply  give  rise  to  abstract  considerations. 
In  the  former  case,  it  is  a  good  thing  to  try  to  reconstruct 
the  scene  in  question,  while  avoiding  exaggeration. 

The  thanksgiving  is  a  natural  consequence  of  the  medita- 
tion. It  is  fitting  to  thank  God  for  blessings  which  are  most 
closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  meditation,  and 
also  for  all  others  which  he  has  given  us. 

The  duty  of  thanksgiving  induces  us  to  offer  God,  as  a 
proof  of  our  gratitude,  all  that  we  have  received  from  him. 
This  makes  the  Offering.4  To  begin  with,  the  Christian  may 
offer  himself,  along  with  all  he  has  and  is,  to  do  the  divine 
will  in  all  things.  Next,  in  order  to  pay  his  debt  of  grati- 
tude for  the  Lord's  goodness,  he  may  offer  the  merits  and 

1  Libro,  Part  I,  chap,  iv  (Bareille,  p.  214). 

2  Libro,  Part  I,  chap,  iv,  p.  211.  Cf.  Memorial,  TTeatise  VI, 
chap.  iv. 

*  Libro,  Part  I,  chap,  v,  pp.  214-215. 

*  Luis  of  Granada  is  silent  as  to  this  part  of  prayer  in  his  Libro. 
He  added  it,  later  on,  in  his  compendium  of  it,  and  inserted  it  in 
the  Sixth  Treatise  of  the  Memorial.  In  his  Libro,  Luis  only  gives  five 
parts  of  prayer.  The  thanksgiving  is  immediately  followed  by  the 
petition.  St  Peter  of  Alcantara,  in  his  Treatise  on  Prayer ,  sets  forth 
the  six  parts  thus  :  Preparation,  Reading,  Meditation,  Thanksgiving, 
Offering,  and  Petition  (Part  II,  chaps,  v-xi). 


^Before  St  XTercsa  99 

works  of  Christ  :  they  have  become  our  own  merits,  and, 
therefore,  they  are  at  our  disposal. 

"  In  return  for  so  rich  an  offering",  we  can  boldly  turn  to 
the  Lord  and  present  our  petitions  to  him."  Our  first  request 
will  concern  his  glory  ;  may  all  the  nations  of  the  world  know 
and  praise  and  adore  him  as  their  one  and  only  God.  Then 
we  shall  pray  for  the  whole  of  the  Church,  and,  lastly,  for 
ourselves  and  for  our  own  particular  needs.  We  shall  ask 
for  the  necessary  help  against  our  passions  and  vices,  and 
for  grace  to  keep  our  resolutions  and  to  love  God  ever  more 
and  more.  Luis  of  Granada  constantly  warns  the  Christian 
against  all  selfish  prayer.  Moreover,  true  prayer  is  not  only 
asking;  it  also  includes  adoration,  praise,  and  thanksgiving. 

It  is  not  enough  to  know  how  to  pray  in  order  to  give 
oneself  up  to  prayer.  Want  of  devotion,  as  well  as  inex- 
perience, may  be  an  impediment.  In  the  sixth  part  of  his 
treatise,  Luis  of  Granada  has  a  profound  study  of  devotion, 
which  is  made  use  of  by  St  Francis  de  Sales.  True  devotion, 
he  says,  is  not  "  an  affection  of  the  heart  poured  out  in 
prayer,"  but  "a  quickness  and  readiness  to  do  it  well,  and 
to  fulfil  the  commandments  of  God,  and  to  do  his  service."1 
It  is  important  to  know  what  is  hurtful  to  him,  and  to  be 
able  to  baffle  the  wiles  of  the  devil,  the  great  enemy  of  the 
devout.  We  shall  thus  overcome  the  second  impediment 
which  may  give  us  a  distaste  for  prayer,  the  loss  of  devotion 
and  spiritual  fervour.2 

Luis  of  Granada  completes  his  ascetic  teaching  in  his 
famous  Sinners'  Guide  (Guia  de  Pecadores).  It  is  a  manual 
of  Christian  virtues.3  It  contains  sound  doctrine  as  to  the 
reasons  for  practising  virtue,  as  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
blessings  to  be  looked  for  from  a  virtuous  life,  and  as  to  the 
excuses  of  those  who  choose  evil.  It  shows  how  to  conquer 
various  failings,  and  man's  duties  to  himself  and  to  his  neigh- 
bours and  to  God  are  clearly  laid  down.  It  is  a  lofty  teach- 
ing applying  to  all  Christians,  no  doubt,  but  more  especially 
to  those  who  aim  at  perfection,  and  it  is  set  forth  with  width 
of  view  and  in  fine  humanistic  style. 

1  Libro,  Part  II,  chap,  i  (Bareille,  pp.  250-251). 

2  In  editions  subsequent  to  1566,  Luis  of  Granada  adds  a  third  part 
to  his  Libro.  Therein  he  deals  with  the  profitableness  and  the  necessity 
of  prayer,  and  with  perseverance  in  it,  and  then  with  fasting  and 
almsgiving,  "  the  wings  which  enable  prayer  to  soar  up  to  heaven." 

3  Similar  works  were  written  before  that  of  Luis  of  Granada  :  In 
J543>  at  Medina,  the  Tesoro  de  virtudes,  by  the  Franciscan,  Alonso  de 
la  Isla;  in  1545,  at  Valladolid,  the  Remedio  de  Pecadores,  by  Juan 
de  Duenos  ;  and  in  the  same  year  and  in  the  same  town  the  celebrated 
Peter  of  Medina  published  the  Libro  de  la  Verdad  sobre  la  Conversion 
del  Pecador ;  in  1550,  at  Valladolid,  appeared  the  Victoria  de  si  mismo, 
by  Melchior  Cano  ;  and  in  1551  the  Danza  de  la  Muerte,  by  an  anony- 
mous Franciscan ;  and  in  the  same  year  the  Guia  del  Cielo,  by  Pablo  de 
Leon. 


ioo  Cbristtan  Spfritualits 

The  Sinners'  Guide  met  with  great  success  and  made  its 
author  famous.  The  Inquisition  put  it  on  the  Index,  but 
that  only  checked  its  circulation  for  a  time.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  Sinners'  Guide  was  in  everyone's  hands 
in  France. 1  Of  all  the  works  by  Luis  of  Granada,  this 
is  the  one  most  readily  recommended  by  St  Francis  de 
Sales. 

In  his  spiritual  teaching-  Luis  of  Granada  always  strove 
to  be  practical.  He  did  not  aim  at  being  a  theorist  in 
spirituality,  but  a  preacher  of  the  Christian  life.  To  set  men 
free  from  sin  and  to  lead  them  on  to  perfection  was  his  sole 
ambition.  He  thought  that  a  book  which  gave  a  compendium 
of  ascetic  teaching,  "  a  complete  and  summary  explanation 
of  all  that  is  needed  for  the  heavenly  life  of  the  Christian,"2 
would  fulfil  the  pious  yearnings  of  his  zeal.  This  book  he 
wrote  :  it  is  his  Memorial  of  the  Christian  Life: 

"  My  design,"  he  says  in  the  Prologue,  "is  to  form  the 
perfect  Christian,  to  lead  him  through  the  exercises  of  the 
Christian  life  from  the  beginning  of  his  conversion  up  to  the 
highest  perfection.  I  take  him  in  hand  in  the  rough  just  as  a 
workman  takes  a  tree  with  its  bark  and  its  branches  to  turn 
it  into  a  work  of  art  worthy  of  unstinted  praise."3 

The  circumstances  in  which  Luis  of  Granada  wrote  did 
not  allow  him  to  linger  over  mysticism.  He  is,  above  all, 
an  ascetic  writer.4  Nevertheless,  in  his  Libro  de  la  Oracion 
he  gives  the  prayer  of  recollection  and  quietude  as  the  desir- 
able goal  of  many  years  of  meditation  : 

"  By  abandoning  all  speculation  and  all  reasoning,  they 
(some  Christians)  establish  their  intelligence  and  their  will 
in  God,  and  they  do  all  they  can  solely  to  enjoy  the  sovereign 
good.  This  state  is  the  state  of  contemplation,  which  is  the 
most  perfect  kind  of  prayer  and  the  extreme  goal  of  our 
endeavours.  Contemplation  does  not  strive  to  kindle  love. 
With  regard  thereto,  it  is  at  the  summit  of  its  desire,  and  its 
one  anxiety  is  fully  to  enjoy  him  whom  it  loves.  ...  In 
contemplation  there  are  at  the  same  time  both  less  effort 
and  more  enjoyment  and  profit.     The  work  of  meditation  is 

1  French  translation  by  Guillaume  Girard,  Paris,  1658.  In  the 
Ecole  des  Femmes,  Moliere  makes  Sganarelle  say  :  "  The  Sinners' 
Guide  is  another  good  book ;  it  does  not  take  you  long  to  learn  how  to 
live  well  from  it." 

2  Memorial,  Prologue. 

3  The  Memorial  comprises  seven  treatises  :  the  Last  Things ;  Penance, 
Confession,  and  Satisfaction ;  Holy  Communion ;  How  to  resist  Sin 
and  Temptation;  Prayer  in  general;  Prayer  [Oraison) ;  Love  of  God. 

4  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  mystical  works 
were  more  favourably  regarded,  a  Dominican,  Jerome  of  Alcozer,  wrote 
a  mystical  work  on  the  lines  of  that  of  Bernardino  de  Laredo,  Subida 
del  Monte  Si  on,  Valentia,  1509. 


before  St  TTeresa  101 

excluded  from  it,  and  therewith  a  great  deal  of  weariness  of 
the  flesh.     The  delight  of  deep  recollection  abides."1 

What  a  remarkable  mystical  writer  Luis  of  Granada  would 
have  been  had  he  lived  in  a  less  disturbed  age  !  But  he 
followed  his  zealous  inspiration  with  much  self-abnegation, 
and  this  bound  him  not  to  go  beyond  the  region  of  asceticism. 
Moreover,  he  united  with  his  intellectual  gifts  a  gentle  and 
conciliatory  temperament  ever  ready  to  give  way  in  the 
interest  of  peace. 


Of  a  very  different  character  was  his  illustrious  colleague, 
Melchior  Cano. 2  Zealous  and  irritable,  incapable  of  enduring 
contradiction,  impassioned  in  his  views,  Melchior  Cano  was 
often  carried  away  beyond  measure  in  his  decisions  and 
proceedings  : 

"  I  am  greatly  wanting  in  prudence  and  discretion,"  he 
humbly  confesses.  "  Every  day  I  catch  myself  tripping 
times  innumerable  in  what  I  do  and  say,  and  I  am  no  wiser 
one  day  than  another.  If  I  sometimes  chance  to  get  a  good 
notion  of  what  I  ought  to  do  at  a  particular  juncture,  it  is 
generally  not  at  the  happy  moment,  but  too  late."3 

He  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  adversaries  of  the  Alum- 
brados.  But  always  intemperate,  even  in  the  best  of  his 
undertakings,  he  included  true  and  sound  mysticism  in  his 
reprobation  of  the  false  mystics.  He  saw  illuminism  in  all 
directions  !  Even  ascetic  ^oks,  if  they  were  written  in 
popular  language,  fell  under  suspicion ;  and  therefore  he 
became  the  evil  genius  of  the  Grand  Inquisitor  Fernando  de 
Valdes. 

Though  but  a  poor  mystic,  Melchior  was  a  theologian  of 
the  first  rank.  Like  his  master,  Francisco  de  Vitoria  (f  1546), 4 
and  even  beyond  his  master,  he  was  a  reformer  of  theo- 
logical studies.  The  humanists,  as  we  know,  had  passion- 
ately attacked  scholastic  theology,  which  they  found  totally 
lacking    in    scientific    spirit    and    written    in    a    barbarous 

1  Libro  de  la  Oracion,  Part  II,  chap,  v  (Bareille,  vol.  xi,  p.  398). 
Cf.  Guia  de  Pecadores,  Book  I,  chap.  iv. 

a  Born  at  Tarancon  in  Spain  in  1508.  He  was  a  professor  of  the 
University  of  Alcala  (1542-1546),  and  then  of  Salamanca  (1546-1552). 
In  1551  he  was  at  the  Council  of  Trent.  In  1552  he  was  nominated  to 
the  bishopric  of  the  Canaries,  but  did  not  take  possession  of  the  See. 
He  died  at  Toledo  in  1560.  Fermin  Caballero,  Vida  del  lllmo  Fray 
Melchior  Cano  del  Orden  de  Santo   Domingo,   Madrid,    1871-1876. 

*  A  kind  of  examination  of  conscience  made  by  Melchior  Cano  in 
1559  to  convince  himself  that  he  ought  not  to  accept  the  office  of 
confessor  of  Philip  II  at  the  Court  of  Brussels.  Caballero,  Vida, 
p.  629.  Translation  by  Mandonnet,  La  victoire  sur  soi-meme,  by 
Melrhior  Cano,  Paris,   1821?,  pp.  21-22. 

1  Cf.  Getino,  O.P.,  El  Maestro  Fr.  Francisco  de  Vitoria  y  el  renaci- 
mento  filosofico  teologico  del  siglo  XVI ,  Madrid,  1914. 


102  Christian  Spirituality 

style.  It  had  to  be  rehabilitated  in  their  eyes  by  giving  it 
a  broader  method,  which  would  employ  the  newly  restored 
scriptural  and  patristic  literature  and  enable  it  to  make  use 
of  noble  language.  This  work  was  brilliantly  begun  by 
Melchior  Cano  in  his  classic  treatise  De  locis  theologicis. l 
The  true  theological  method,  alike  positive  and  speculative, 
was  therein  formulated  and  followed  with  a  noteworthy 
mastery  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  humanists, 
and  in  Latin  of  the  highest  elegance.  Thus  did  the  sacred 
science  recover  the  prestige  which  it  had  lost  for  over  a 
century.  Henceforward,  it  could  measure  itself  to  advantage 
with  Protestant  heresy. 

Strange  to  tell,  this  fierce  adversary  of  spiritual  works  in 
the  vulgar  tongue  left  behind  him  a  little  ascetical  treatise 
in  Spanish:  On  the  Conquest  of  Oneself.2  It  is,  however, 
a  publication  with  nothing  dangerous  in  it.  It  is  a  treatise 
against  the  seven  capital  sins,  an  adaptation  of  an  Italian 
book  by  the  Dominican  Battista  da  Crema.3  It  contains 
nothing  about  the  sensible  or  spiritual  consolations  of  devo- 
tion. Except  in  the  last  chapter  on  the  Crucifix,  "the 
universal  remedy  for  all  sins,"  which  is  fairly  affective  in 
spirit,  the  book  contains  nothing  but  remarks  on  how  to 
discover  our  vices  and  counsels  for  overcoming  them  : 

"The  title  of  the  book,"  writes  Cano  in  the  Prologue, 
"  is  On  the  Conquest  of  Oneself — that  is  to  say,  of  one's 
own  vices  and  passions ;  a  conquest  which  is  wOt  so  hard 
as  many  people  fancy.   .   .  . 

"  Seeing  how  few  books  written  in  Spanish  give  such 
teaching  in  a  competent  manner,  I  have  decided  to  face  the 
fatigue  of  a  few  days'  toil  to  write  this  treatise,  the  best  part 
of  which  I  have  taken  from  the  Italian  in  which  I  found  it 
written  by  a  man  of  great  good  sense  and  of  great  courage 
in  spiritual  warfare.  In  it  the  reader  will  find  the  origin 
and  the  cause  of  all  our  vices  and  the  signs  whereby  they 
may  be  recognized ;  he  will  find  the  remedies  and  medicines 
most  suited  to  each  malady ;  he  will  find  in  what  cases  the 
seven  capital  sins  are  mortal  and  in  what  cases  they  are 
venial,    and   this,   as   I    know,    has   not   as   yet   been   put   in 

1  Published  at  Salamanca  in  1563  after  the  author's  death,  and  often 
reissued.  Cf.  M.  Jacquin,  O.P.,  Melchior  Cano  et  la  thiologie  moderne, 
in  the  Revue  des  sciences  -philoso-phiques  et  thiologiques,  1920, 
pp.  121-141. 

*  De  la  vitoria  de  si  mismo,  Valladolid,  1550.  Often  republished. 
French  translation  by  Maurice  Legendre,  Preface  by  P.  Mandonnet, 
Paris,   1923. 

3  John  Baptist  Carioni,  generally  known  as  Battista  da  Crema 
(ti534),  published  Le  livre  de  la  connaissance  et  victoire  de  soi-meme, 
Milan,  1531.  In  1538  Serafino  da  Fermo  put  an  abridgement  of  this 
book  in  his  collection  of  Traites  de  la  vie  s-pirituelle.  Battista  da 
Crema's  Italian  text  was  abridged  by  Melchior  Cano.  I  shall  refer  to 
Battista  da  Crema  later  on. 


before  St  Ueresa  103 

writing-  in  the  Spanish  language.  And  this  is  as  necessary 
for  penitents  as  well  as  for  confessors  as  any  other  work 
that  could  be  written."1 

We  shall  come  back  to  Melchior  Cano  again  later  on.  His 
work  of  antimystical  reaction  in  Spain  is  of  greater  interest 
to  the  history  of  spirituality  than  the  little  book  On  the 
Conquest  of  Oneself. 

The  Venerable  Bartholomew  of  the  Martyrs  (1 1590)  is 
more  celebrated  for  his  action  at  the  Council  of  Trent  and 
for  his  pastoral  zeal  in  his  diocese  of  Braga  in  Portugal 
than  for  his  spiritual  writings.  However,  his  Compendium 
vitae  spiritualis2  contains  a  very  good  summary  of  spiritual 
doctrine.  It  is  a  very  practical  book,  which  still  further 
extends  the  pastoral  influence  of  the  holy  archbishop. 


The  Order  of  St  Dominic  had  the  signal  honour  of  giving 
St  Teresa  three  confessors  who  directed  her  in  the  extra- 
ordinary ways  in  which  God  used  to  lead  her  :  Pedro  Ibanez, 
Dominico  Banez,  and  Garcia  de  Toledo. 

Pedro  Ibanez  made  his  profession  in  the  monastery  of 
Salamanca,  and  was  teacher  of  theology  in  the  convent  of 
Avila  when  St  Teresa  had  recourse  to  his  wisdom  in  1560 
and  1 561.  "  He  was  at  that  time  the  most  eminent  theologian 
in  the  town,"  she  says,  "  and,  in  his  Order,  he  had  very 
few  superiors."3  Teresa,  then  in  the  monastery  of  the  In- 
carnation at  Avila,  had  framed  her  plan  of  reforming  the 
Carmelite  Order  and  of  founding  the  convent  of  St  Joseph 
of  Avila.  She  talked  of  her  plan  to  Pedro  Ibanez.4  A  few 
months  later  she  made  known  to  him  all  that  was  taking 
place  within  her  soul,  tc   ~btain  his  advice  : 

"  I  revealed  to  him,"  she  says,  "  as  clearly  as  I  could, 
all  the  visions  I  had  had,  my  manner  of  prayer,  and  the  great 
graces  which  God  was  giving  me,  begging  him  to  examine 
everything  seriously  to  see  whether  there  was  anything  in 
it  contrary  to  Holy  Scripture,  so  as  to  tell  me  what  he 
thought  of  it.     He  greatly  reassured  me."6 

Pedro  Ibanez  asked  Teresa  to  give  him  a  full  account  of 
her  life.6  In  1563  or  1564  he  wrote  a  report  on  the  interior 
ways  of  the  saint,  and  after  setting  forth  the  traditional  rules 
for  the  discernment  of  spirits  he  concludes,  "with  all  those 
who  have  been  consulted  on  the  subject  "  that  Teresa  "  was 

1  La  victoire  sur  soi-meme,  Paris,  1923,  pp.  36-37. 

2  Published  at  Lisbon,  1582,  then  at  Venice,  171 1,  under  the  title 
Compendium  mysticae  doclrinae,  then  at  Rome,  1744.  Le  Maistre  de 
Sacy  has  published  his  Life. 

3  Life,  chap,  xxxii.  d   ibid,  and  chap,  xxxiii. 
6  Life,  chap,  xxxiii. 

6  St  Teresa  made  then,  in  1562,  the  first  narrative  of  her  life,  which 
was  shorter  than  the  one  we  have,  and  it  has  disappeared. 


-  — :-. 


' 


before  St  Ueresa  105 

Owing-  to  her  long  experience,  her  prudence,  and  that  humility 
which  has  made  her  have  constant  recourse  to  the  enlighten- 
ment and  knowledge  of  her  confessors,  she  expresses  herself 
on  these  matters  of  prayer  with  an  accuracy  which  the  best 
theologians  do  not  always  attain  for  want  of  experience." 

Then  come  certain  reservations  demanded  still  more  by  the 
circumstances  than  by  the  prudence  of  the  censor. 

One  point  seems  to  claim  his  most  careful  consideration, 
"  the  revelations  and  visions  which  the  book  affords  in  great 
numbers."  It  is  not  in  these  that  we  must  "  place  sanctity." 
They  are,  "  on  the  other  hand,  a  perilous  reef  for  those  who 
tend  towards  perfection,  for  Satan  often  changes  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light  and  seduces  such  as  are  full  of  curiosity 
and  devoid  of  humilitv  :  we  have  seen  many  examples  of  this 
in  our  own  days."  Bafiez  affirms  that  no  one  was  more  in- 
credulous than  himself  as  to  the  visions  and  revelations  of 
Teresa,  although  he  is  inclined  to  think  that  they  "  might  be 
the  work  of  God,  as  in  the  case  of  some  other  saints."  But 
he  has  better  criteria  for  the  appreciation  of  the  sanctity  of 
his  penitent.  He  has  subjected  her  to  hard  trials.  He  has 
"  long  put  to  the  proof  her  sincerity,  her  obedience,  her 
penance,  her  patience,  her  charity  towards  her  persecutors, 
and  her  other  virtues."  She  has  always  been  admirable. 
Moreover,  her  undertaking  to  reform  the  Carmelite  nuns  is 
altogether  in  her  favour.  Bafiez  ends  by  declaring:  "This 
book  is  not  of  such  a  kind  as  to  be  given  to  everybody,  but 
only  to  men  of  knowledge,  of  experience,  and  of  Christian 
wisdom." 

V— BLESSED   JOHN   OF   AVILA 

Similar  reservations  are  to  be  found  in  the  otherwise  en- 
couraging letter  written  by  Blessed  John  of  Avila1  to  St 
Teresa  on  the  Book  of  her  Life.  We  realize  that  at  the  time 
false  mysticism  was  haunting  everybody's  mind.  Teresa, 
too,  was  as  alarmed  as  everyone  else,  and  feared  illusion  ; 
she  therefore  took  one  step  after  another  to  get  John  of 
Avila' s  opinion  about  the  special  ways  in  which  God  was 
leading  her.2  She  obtained  it;  and  it  gave  her  his  most  re- 
assuring approbation.3 

1  John  of  Avila,  the  apostle  of  Andalusia,  did  not  belong  to  any 
religious  congregation.  He  was  born  on  January  6,  1500,  at  Almo- 
dovar  del  Campo.  He  studied  at  Salamanca  and  at  Alcala.  On  the 
death  of  his  parents,  he  distributed  his  goods  amongst  the  poor,  was 
ordained  priest  and  devoted  himself  to  preaching  in  Andalusia.  He 
was  beatified  by  Leo  XIII  on  April  6,  1894.  Among  the  Works  of 
Luis  of  Granada,  see  the  Vida  del  verier  abile  maestro  Juan  d' Avila. 
There  is  another  Life,  by  Martin  Ruis,  Madrid,  1618. 

2  CEuvres  de  sainte  Tirese,  Vol.  I,  pp.  12-17. 

3  id.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  159-163. 


io6  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

Nevertheless,  several  passages  in  his  letter  must  have  left 
Teresa  in  great  anxiety. 

"  The  book  is  not  written,"  she  read,  "  for  the  handling-  of 
many.  .  .  .  Certain  things  which  may  have  been  profitable 
to  your  own  spiritual  progress  would  not  be  so  for  those  who 
might  desire  to  seize  upon  them,  for  the  particular  ways 
whereby  God  leads  some  are  not  suited  to  others.  .  .  . 
Inward  voices  have  deceived  many  in  our  own  times.  Those 
from  without  are  the  least  reliable.  To  perceive  that  the 
words  are  not  the  outcome  of  our  own  minds  is  easy ;  but  to 
ascertain  whether  they  come  from  the  good  or  from  the  evil 
spirit,  that  is  much  harder.  .  .  .  Imaginary  and  corporal 
visions  are  the  most  dubious.  They  are  not  at  all  to  be 
desired  :  they  must  be  evaded  as  much  as  possible." 

In  his  preaching,  as  in  his  books,  John  of  Avila  put  the 
faithful  on  their  guard  against  false  mysticism  as  much  as 
against  Protestant  heresy.  To  instruct  the  ignorant,  to  con- 
vert sinners,  to  exhort  to  the  practice  of  perfection,  to 
keep  souls  from  sin,  and  to  sanctify  the  clergy,  such  was  the 
aim  of  his  zeal.  He  restored  to  virtue  a  large  number  of 
those  who  had  gone  astray.  He  won  Francis  Borgia  and 
John  of  God1  to  the  religious  life.  Most  of  those  who  were 
eminent  for  sanctity  in  Spain  during  the  sixteenth  century 
had  some  relations  with  him.  His  authority  was  universally 
accepted  and  his  guidance  was  much  sought  after.  He  wrote 
many  letters  addressed  to  all  conditions  of  people,  from 
dignitaries  of  the  Church  to  the  humblest  of  the  faithful.2  To 
all  he  gave  the  most  appropriate  advice  proceeding  from  a 
heart  burning  with  zeal  for  the  sanctification  of  souls.  His 
letters  may  be  compared  with  those  of  St  Francis  de  Sales. 

John  of  Avila  was  raised  to  the  highest  of  mystical  states. 
To  a  rare  degree  he  possessed  the  gift  of  the  discernment  of 
spirits.  According  to  the  testimony  of  St  Peter  of  Alcantara, 
no  one  surpassed  him  in  the  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  ways. 

His  principal  work,  Audi  filia  et  vide,3  aims  at  leading  the 
Christian   through    difficulties   inherent   in   human   nature   or 

1  St  John  of  God  was  born  in  1495  at  Montemajor-el-Novo  in 
Portugal.  His  family  was  very  poor.  He  was  converted  by  one  of 
John  of  Avila's  sermons.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  sick 
and  founded  a  hostel  at  Granada.  This  was  a  model  for  all  the  rest. 
He  instituted  the  Order  of  Charity,  and  died  in  1550.  Pope  Pius  V 
approved  of  the  new  Order,  and  gave  its  religious  the  Rule  of  St 
Augustine.  Acta  SS.,  March  8.  Cf.  Vie  fofulaire  de  S  Jean  de 
Dien,  by  P.  Ignace-Marie  Magnin,  Paris-Lille,   1887. 

2  Four  books  of  Spiritual  Letters  are  in  the  Works  of  John  of  Avila 
(French  translation,  1588).  His  Complete  Works  were  published  at 
Madrid  in  1618  by  Martin  Ruiz  (French  translation,  Paris,  1673). 

3  Esfosicion  del  verso:  Audi  filia,  1556,  was  first  published  without 
John  of  Avila's  consent.  He  composed  this  mystical  commentary  for 
devout  persons  under  his  direction.  He  refrained  from  publishing  it 
through  fear  of  the  Inquisition. 


Before  St  Ueresa  107 

characteristic  of  the  Spanish  mentality  at  the  time,  and  to 
help  him  to  attain  to  the  topmost  heights  of  perfection.  It 
is  a  mystical  commentary  on  Psalm  xliv,  11,  12  :  "  Hearken, 
O  daughter,  and  see,  and  incline  thy  ear  :  forget  thy  people 
and  thy  father's  house;  and  the  King  shall  greatly  desire  thy 
beauty." 

The  Christian  soul,  the  daughter  of  whom  the  Psalmist 
speaks,  hears  at  first  the  various  voices  which  must  be 
despised  :  voices  of  the  world,  of  the  flesh,  and  of  the  devil. 
She  must  also  close  her  ears  to  the  words  of  heretics  who, 
like  the  impious  Luther,  claim  the  right  to  reform  the  Church 
in  order  to  restore  her  so-called  primitive  perfection.1  Above 
all  must  she  distrust  the  Alumbrados,  the  enemies  of  true 
devotion.  They  have  tried  to  discover  new  ways  of  going  to 
God,  and  shorter  ways  in  their  opinion.  They  imagine  that 
it  is  enough  to  abandon  themselves  entirely  to  the  Lord  to  be 
led  by  his  Spirit.  Hence  they  are  so  blind  that  they  take 
their  own  notions  for  God's  and  do  things  against  his  com- 
mandments as  if  they  were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  John 
advises  people  not  to  desire  revelations,  visions,  and  other 
extraordinary  things.2 

Having  put  aside  all  hindrances  to  the  Christian  life,  the 
soul  must  try  to  acquire  self-knowledge.  She  will  then  devote 
herself  to  prayer  and  meditation,  without  which  it  is  hard  to 
acquire  sanctity.3  John  of  Avila's  method  of  prayer  re- 
sembles Luis  of  Granada's.  Above  all  he  would  have  us 
cleave  to  Jesus  and  contemplate  him  almost  entirely  in  prayer. 
For  when  we  consider  ourselves,  we  find  ourselves  so  im- 
perfect that  we  are  inclined  to  be  discouraged.  Let  us  then 
consider  the  highest  of  all  beauty,  which  is  Christ.  Let  us 
further  take  comfort  because  Jesus  hearkens  to  us  and  looks 
upon  us  after  we  have  listened  to  and  regarded  ourselves.  By 
prayer  the  Christian  soul  thus  enters  into  familiar  communion 
with  the  Saviour.  When  she  has  renounced  self-will  and  has 
been  exercised  in  the  practice  of  love,  she  will  recover  all  her 
beauty,  and  the  King  will  greatly  desire  her.4 

1  Audi  fdia,  chaps,  xxx-xlxx.  2  ibid.,  chaps.  1-lv. 

s  ibid.,  chaps,  lxix-lxxxv. 

4  John  of  Avila  wrote  several  other  little  treatises  or  discourses  :  a 
discourse  upon  the  need  of  having  no  will  but  God's  ;  two  discourses 
on  the  priesthood  and  on  the  sanctity  required  for  it ;  a  discourse  on 
the  love  of  God;  two  collections  of  counsels  for  living  a  Christian  life, 
both  censured  by  the  Inquisition.  It  is  in  the  first  of  these  collections 
that  we  find  the  passage  upon  the  subject  of  a  director  which  so  much 
interested  St  Francis  de  Sales  :  "  If  God  grants  us  the  grace  of 
meeting  one  [a  good  director]  amongst  a  thousand.  .  .  ."  Cf.  The 
Devout  Life,  Part  I,  chap,  iv  :  "  Choose  one  out  of  a  thousand,  says 
Avila;  and  I  say,  one  out  of  ten  thousand.  .  .   ." 


108  Cbristian  Spirituality 

VI— THE  VIOLENT  REACTION  OF  THE  SPANISH 
INQUISITION  AGAINST  THE  FALSE  MYSTICISM 
OF  THE  "  ALUMBRADOS  "—  THE  ANTI-MYSTI- 
CAL REACTION 

This   wonderful   blossoming-  of    spiritual   literature   was    cut 
short  by  the  Inquisition. 

Its  task  was  a  very  hard  one.  Protestantism  was  en- 
deavouring to  enter  into  Spain.  The  Alumbrados  held  out  a 
helping  hand.  Illuminism  and  false  mysticism  were  filtering 
into  the  popular  mind.  At  Cordova  in  1544,  Madeleine  of  the 
Cross,  a  Poor  Clare,  had  a  great  reputation  for  sanctity.1 
Miracles  were  attributed  to  her.  Her  confessors  ordered  her 
to  write  her  life  and  to  give  an  account  of  the  extraordinary 
graces  with  which  she  was  favoured.  But  all  of  a  sudden  it 
turned  out  that  it  was  all  imposture,  and  that  the  miserable 
creature  had  sold  her  soul  to  the  devil.  Later  on,  a  Domini- 
can nun  of  Lisbon,  Mary  of  the  Incarnation,  who  simulated 
ecstasies  and  stigmata,  took  advantage  of  the  honest  con- 
fidence of  Luis  of  Granada. 

Reaction  was  certainly  demanded  to  stop  the  evil.  The 
Grand  Inquisitor,  Fernando  de  Valdes,  Archbishop  of  Seville, 
began  the  work  of  purification  by  publishing  the  Index  of 
Toledo  in  1551.2  It  has  the  Protestants  especially  in  view. 
The  Index  generally  forbids  the  reading  of  any  version  "  of 
the  Bible  in  Castilian  or  any  other  vulgar  tongue."  All 
heterodox  texts  are  prohibited,  and  Jewish  and  Lutheran 
Bibles  or  any  others  circulating  in  the  kingdom. 

This  first  blow  was  ineffective.  Heresy  and  illuminism 
went  on  with  their  ravages.  And  then  it  was  that,  to  put  a 
stop  to  them  more  surely,  it  was  decided  to  condemn  any 
book  that  seemed  in  the  least  suspicious  :  book  of  Hours, 
treatise  of  spirituality,  or  manual  of  devotional  practices. 

Here  Melchior  Cano  comes  upon  the  scene. 

About  1556  and  1557,  in  preaching  at  Valladolid  against 
the  Protestants  and  the  Alumbrados,  he  also  appeared  to 
have  the  mystics  in  view.  Moreover,  according  to  him,  in 
the  circumstances  of  the  time  any  devotional  work  in  the 
language  of  the  people  was  dangerous.  Even  simple  ex- 
planations of  the  Catechism  had  their  disadvantages. 

In  1558  there  appeared  at  Brussels  the  Commentaries  al 
Catecismo  Cristiano  by  Cardinal  Carranza,  Dominican  and 
Archbishop   of   Toledo.3      It   was  an   excellent  and   entirely 

1  Menendez  y  Pelayo,  Heterodoxos  Esfanoles,  II,  p.  528. 

*  It  is  the  Index  of  Louvain  of  1546,  republished  at  Toledo  with  a 
list  of  books  forbidden  by  Fernando  de  Valdes. 

3  Cf.  A.  Tournon,  Histoires  des  hommes  illustres  de  Vordre  de 
S  Dominique,  Paris,  1743-1749,  Vol.  IV,  Book  XXIX. 


before  St  Ueresa  109 

practical  work,  a  simple  exposition  of  Christian  doctrine  in 
a  form  easy  for  all  to  understand.  Was  the  Cardinal  under 
suspicion?  In  any  case  the  book  was  delated  for  trial  to  the 
Inquisition.  Melchior  Cano1  was  charged  with  the  examina- 
tion of  it,  and  made  a  very  unfavourable  report.  He  found 
in  it  statements  which  were  almost  Lutheran  !  Especially 
were  the  explanations  given  in  it  much  more  suited,  he  said, 
to  priests  than  to  simple  layfolk.  Was  it  not  the  tendency  of 
the  illuminati  and  false  mystics  to  reveal  to  everyone  whatever 
is  mysterious  in  Catholic  doctrine?  The  book  was  con- 
demned, and  people  were  astounded  to  learn  that  the  pious 
and  learned  Cardinal  had  been  flung  into  the  prisons  of  the 
Inquisition.  Pope  Pius  IV  could  not  obtain  his  discharge 
until  after  several  years  of  insistence. 

Decidedly,  the  Grand  Inquisitor  meant  to  strike  dreadful 
blows  in  order  to  impress  the  people  and  to  turn  them  away 
from  error.  If  anyone  went  too  far,  so  much  the  worse  for 
him,  provided  that  heresy  and  false  mysticism  were  ex- 
terminated from  Spain  !  They  attacked  even  the  wisest 
spiritual  writers  if  they  had  written  in  Spanish. 

Melchior  Cano  reproached  his  fellow  Dominican,  Luis  of 
Granada,  with  desiring  to  lead  all  the  faithful  systematically 
to  mystical  prayer.  Would  it  not  fling  them  all  into 
illuminism?  He  also  thought  that  Granada's  books  were  too 
full  of  sentimentality  and  of  tendencies  too  much  like  those 
of  the  Alumbrados.  Besides,  all  books  that  popularized 
mysticism  were  considered  very  dangerous  and  capable  of 
promoting  unhealthy  illusions.  Their  reading  must  be  for- 
bidden. 

Urged  on  by  Melchior  Cano,  Fernando  de  Valdes  issued 
the  famous  Index  of  15592  at  Valladolid.  To  the  books 
already  prohibited  in  1551  was  added  a  long  list  of  works 
mostly  written  by  authors  of  irreproachable  orthodoxy.  Be- 
sides Carranza's  book,  it  included  three  works  by  Luis  of 
Granada,3  one  by  Francis  Borgia,4  one  by  John  of  Avila,5 
and  the  spiritual  writings  of  Jorge  de  Montemayor.  The 
reading  of   Eckhart,    of   the   Institutions   of   Tauler,   of  the 

1  See  Vida,  by  F.  Caballero.  Dominic  de  Soto  (ti56o),  O.P.,  was 
charged  with  the  examination  of  Carranza's  book.  He  was  a  counsellor 
of  the  Grand  Inquisitor.  On  this  anti-mystical  reaction,  see  Colunga, 
O.P.,  Ciencia  tomista,  May,  July,  November,  1914.  A.  Saudreau,  Le 
mouvement  anti?nystique  en  Espagne  au  XV I e  siecle  in  the  Revue  du 
Clergi  jrancais,  August  1,  1917,  Vol.  XCI,  pp.  193  ff. 

2  Catalogus  librorum  qui  prohibentur  mandato  Illustrissimi  et 
Reverendissimi  D.  D.  Fernandi  de  Valdes,  Hispalen.  Archiepiscopi, 
Inquisitoris  generalis  Hispaniae,  Pinciae,  1559.  Reprint  by  Hunting- 
ton, New  York. 

8  Libro  de  la  Oracion  y  Meditacion;  Guida  de  Pecadores ;  The 
Manual  of  divers  Prayers  and  spiritual  Exercises.  Luis  appealed  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  which  approved  his  Libro. 

Obras  del  Cristiano.  5  Aviso  y  reglas  cristianas. 


no  Christian  Spirituality 

Mystical  Theology  of  Harphius,  and  of  Dionysius  the  Car- 
thusian's treatise  on  the  Last  Things  was  also  forbidden. 
The  works  of  the  "  Mystics  of  the  North  "  were  considered 
specially  pernicious.1 

This  excessive  reaction  is  explained  by  the  end  in  view  : 
but  it  profoundly  grieved  the  mystics.  St  Teresa  wrote  about 
these  condemnations. 

"  When  the  reading  of  a  good  many  Spanish  books  was 
prohibited,  I  was  very  sorry  for  it,  since  many  of  them  gave 
me  pleasure,  and  henceforth  I  found  myself  deprived  of  them, 
as  they  might  only  be  read  in  Latin."2 

A  real  panic  spread  among  the  writers  of  spiritual  books. 3 
It  was  the  rout  of  the  mystics.  Woe  to  him  who  dared  to 
write  !  Luis  de  Leon,  the  famous  Augustinian,  having  trans- 
lated at  the  request  of  a  nun  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  was 
denounced  to  the  Inquisition  and  imprisoned  for  five  years. 

By  what  miracle  did  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius 
of  Loyola  escape  the  Index  of  1559?  Opposition  to  the 
Exercises  was  manifested,  as  we  know,  at  Alcala  and  at 
Salamanca,  as  soon  as  they  began  to  be  followed.  Ignatius 
finally  left  Spain  in  1535,  and  his  departure  caused  the  attacks 
to  slacken,  but  about  1540,  when  his  disciples  returned, 
prejudice  against  the  Exercises  revived  and  became  more 
violent  than  ever. 

The  papal  approbation  of  the  Exercises  by  Paul  III  in 
1548  might  have  been  expected  to  calm  people's  minds;  but 
at  that  time  the  absolute  power  of  the  Inquisition  was  entirely 
subject  to  Philip  II,  and  the  approbation  and  examinations  of 
Rome  were  but  "  feeble  arguments  "  in  Spain.4  In  any  case, 
they  did  not  prevent  the  violent  opposition  of  Melchior  Cano. 

As  soon  as  the  Jesuits  returned  to  Salamanca,  the  terrible 
Dominican,  who  was  a  professor  there,  started  a  campaign. 
Both  in  his  correspondence  and  in  his  still  famous  Memor- 
andum5 he  unsparingly  attacked  Ignatius  and  his  com- 
panions, those  "  latter-day  seducers  who  delude  the  world." 
The  controversial  amenities  of  the  period  swarm  from  his 
pen  !  According  to  him,  the  Exercises  are  "  diabolical 
artifices,"  and  encourage  illuminism  !6    Invective  passed  into 

1  These  works  had  been  translated  into  Spanish ;  hence  the  reading 
of  them  was  forbidden. 

2  Life,  chap,  xxvi,  CEuvres,  Vol.  I,  p.  233- 

*  In  1565  there  appeared  a  few  rare  works  of  ascetic  theology; 
amongst  others,  De  Montoya's  Obras  de  los  que  aman  a  Dios  at  Lisbon. 
Several  treatises  by  Alonzo  of  Orozco  were  published  from  1565  to  1570. 

*  Monumenta  historica  Societatis  Jesu,  E-pistolae  mixtae,  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  666. 

5  Cf.   Crisis  de  la  Comfahia  de  Jesus,  Barcelona,  1900,  pp.   152-159. 

6  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  Exercises  were  considered  conducive  to 
illuminism,  and  since  then  they  have  been  said  to  bar  the  ways  of 
mysticism. 


Before  St  {Teresa  m 

action  :  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  John  Martinez  Guijeno, 
appointed  a  commission  to  examine  the  Exercises,  and  it 
censured  them  as  tainted  with  illuminism.1 

These  exaggerations  issued  in  results  contrary  to  those 
desired.  Ignatius  and  his  companions  endured  these  unjust 
attacks  without  replying,  and  were  content  to  countering 
them  with  the  approbation  of  Rome.  By  degrees  passions 
were  allayed,  and  the  Exercises  escaped  the  Index  of  1559. 


These  events  naturally  gave  rise  to  a  somewhat  lively 
conflict  between  the  theologians  and  the  spiritual  authors. 

In  1562,  when  St  Teresa  consulted  St  Peter  of  Alcantara 
on  her  project — opposed  by  the  theologians2 — of  founding 
monasteries  in  utter  poverty,  the  famous  Franciscan  replied 
with  energy  : 

'  I  assure  you  that  I  was  very  surprised  to  find  you  were 
referring  to  the  judgement  of  theologians  a  question  with 
which  they  have  nothing  to  do.  If  matters  of  law  or  cases 
of  conscience  were  at  stake,  it  would  be  right  to  take  the 
opinions  of  jurists  or  of  theologians  ;  but  when  it  is  a  question 
of  perfection,  we  have  only  to  consult  those  who  practise  it. 
Usually,  indeed,  conscience  and  pious  dispositions  are  in 
harmony  with  the  works  that  men  do."3 

Luis  of  Granada,  in  the  new  editions  of  his  Guia  de 
Pecadores,  wrote  prologues  "  in  reply  to  certain  persons, 
whose  words  are  not  lacking  in  gravity  and  who  reject  even 
good  books  in  the  vulgar  tongue  for  the  use  of  those  who 
know  not  Latin."4 

St  Teresa,  convinced  "  of  the  insufficiency  of  man's 
strength  to  quench  the  fire  of  heresy,"  recommended  her 
religious  in  1565  to  pray  for  the  defenders  of  the  faith,  in 
order,  she  acutely  added,  "  that  amongst  so  great  a  number 
of  doctors  and  religious,  many  may  be  found  possessed  of 
.  .  .  the  qualities  needed  for  the  fulfilment  of  their  mission, 
and  that  the  Lord  may  give  such  dispositions  to  those  who 
are  as  yet  not  fully  endowed  with  them,  seeing  that  one 
perfect  man  will  do  more  than  a  large  number  of  others  who 
are  not  so."5 

As  long  as  she  had  put  nothing  into  writing,  the  Inquisitors 

1  A.  Astrain,  Historia  de  la  Compania  de  Jesus  en  la  Asistencia  de 
Espana,  Madrid,  1902,  Vol.  I,  pp.  323-325,  367  ff. ;  Polanco,  Chronicon 
Societatis  Jesu,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  503  ff.  P.  Brou  gives  a  summary  of  the 
facts  in  Les  Exercises  spirituels  de  saint  Ignace  de  Loyola,  Paris,  1922, 
pp.  59  ff. 

2  Life,  chap.  xxxv. 

3  CEuvres  de  sainte  Terese,  Vol.  II,  p.  420. 
*  Bareille,  Vol.  X,  p.   15. 

_  *  The   Way  of  Perfection,   chap.    iii.     Cf.  Spiritual  Relations,   Rela- 
tion iii,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  218. 


"2  Christian  Spirituality 

did  not  alarm  her  j1  yet  she  suffered  indirectly  from  their 
exaggerated  zeal.  Fear  of  the  Holy  Office  often  led  her 
confessors  to  subject  her  to  hard  trials,  especially  when  she 
was  beginning  to  receive  extraordinary  graces.  To  these 
trials  the  saint  discreetly  alludes,  sometimes  with  severity,  in 
the  Book  of  her  Life  and  the  Way  of  Perfection. 

"  I  have  sustained  considerable  [harm],"  she  says  in  her 
Life,2  "  owing  to  the  excessive  fears  to  which  some  minds 
are  liable. 

"  Among  other  things,  this  is  what  has  happened  to  me. 
There  was  a  meeting  of  a  certain  number  of  men  of  God,  in 
whom  I  had  much  confidence,  and  that  on  just  grounds.  Yet 
I  opened  my  mind  to  but  one  confessor,  and  only  spoke  to 
any  others  on  his  orders ;  but  these  conversed  with  one 
another  about  my  spiritual  interests,  and  as  they  were  very 
devoted  to  me,  they  feared  lest  I  might  have  illusions.  .  .  . 
I  believe  there  were  five  or  six  of  them,  all  great  servants  of 
God.  My  confessor  warned  me  that  in  their  opinion  the 
devil  was  the  cause  of  what  was  taking  place  within  me  : 
according  to  them,  I  ought  to  receive  Holy  Communion  less 
often  and  to  seek  distraction  by  shunning  solitude.  .  .  . 
These  men  were  far  more  virtuous  than  I  was,  and,  moreover, 
good  theologians:  how  could  I  help  believing  them?  I  did 
my  best  to  adopt  their  opinions.  .  .  . 

"  A  prey  to  desolation,  I  left  the  church  [of  the  Jesuit 
College]  and  withdrew  to  an  oratory.  For  some  time  I  had 
been  deprived  of  Holy  Communion  as  well  as  of  the  solitude 
which  was  my  whole  joy.  Further,  I  had  no  one  to  whom 
I  could  open  my  heart,  since  everyone  was  against  me." 

This  attitude  on  the  part  of  Teresa's  confessors  was  not 
only  inspired  by  the  desire  to  "  try  her  spirit."  Mixed  up  in 
the  conflict  which  stirred  the  peninsula,  many  may  have  been 
prejudiced  by  the  surrounding  hostility  towards  mysticism. 
They  were  "always  distrustful."3 

But  St  Teresa  had  to  suffer  still  further  from  the  Inquisi- 
tion. In  1575  she  was  told  that  the  Book  of  her  Life,  copies 
of  which  were  being  circulated  against  her  will,  had  just  been 
denounced  to  the  Holy  Office.  She  was  alarmed  about  it, 
not  on  her  own  account,  but  for  the  sake  of  her  foundations, 

1  Cf.  Life,  chap,  xxxiii  :  "  They  came  to  tell  me  in  much  alarm  that 
the  times  were  evil,  that  some  accusation  might  well  be  made  against 
me,  and  that  I  might  be  delated  to  the  Inquisitors.  This  idea  seemed 
to  me  quite  charming,  and  it  made  me  burst  out  laughing.  ...  So  I 
answered  that  they  need  not  worry  :  my  soul  would  be  in  a  very  bad 
state  if  I  had  any  reason  to  fear  the  Inquisition." 

2  Life,  chap.  xxv.  Cf .  Life,  chap,  xxviii ;  Way  of  Perfection,  chap.  v. 
The  happenings  in  chap,  xxv  occurred  at  Avila,  where  Teresa  was  at 
the  Monastery  of  the  Incarnation. 

3  Interior  Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  133.  Cf. 
Foundations,  chap.  viii. 


Betore  St  Xleresa  113 

which  were  fully  prospering-.  "  To  incur  the  indignation  of 
the  Inquisitors  was  at  the  same  time  to  incur  the  indignation 
of  Philip  II."1  What  was  to  become  of  the  incipient  reform? 
Happily  the  Dominican  Bafiez  reported  favourably  on  the 
book,  and  no  condemnation  occurred. 


VII— TRIALS    OF    THE    JESUIT    BALTHAZAR 

ALVAREZ 

These  suspicions  of  mysticism  were  maintained  by  the  per- 
sistence of  false  mysticism.  Neither  the  Index  of  1551,  nor 
that  of  1559,  nor  the  autos-da-fS  had  been  able  to  banish  the 
Alumbrados  from  the  peninsula.  The  cynicism  and  im- 
morality of  the  sectaries,  put  on  record  once  more  in  1578  at 
Llerena,  surpass  all  imagination.  The  Inquisition  was  acting 
rigorously.  The  superiors  of  religious  communities  were  ex- 
ercising keen  watchfulness  to  keep  their  subjects  from 
illuminism  ;  and,  as  always  in  such  circumstances,  this  watch- 
fulness sometimes  grew  vexatious.  It  was  particularly  so  in 
the  case  of  Balthazar  Alvarez.2 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  this  Jesuit  was  charged  with  the 
direction  of  St  Teresa  just  when  she  was  entering  upon  the 
most  extraordinary  phase  of  her  life.  Though  he  was  as 
prudent  as  the  most  sagacious  of  theologians,  he  could  not 
refrain  from  criticisms. 

First  of  all,  he  would  not  tolerate  any  imperfection  in  his 
penitent  who  was  called  to  a  high  degree  of  sanctity.  He 
asked  her  to  give  up  "  certain  friendships  which  did  not  at 
all  offend  God,"3  but  which  hindered  her  yearning  for  per- 
fection. Having  also  remarked  her  too  great  eagerness  in 
her  enterprises,  he  desired  to  cure  it. 

"  Once  the  saint,  being  very  busy,  wrote  him  a  letter,  while 
he  was  away  from  Avila,  asking  him  for  a  speedy  reply 
'  because  she  was  tired  out.'  Father  Balthazar,  considering 
that  it  was  more  important  to  mortify  her  and  to  moderate 

1  For  all  this,  see  (Euvres  de  sainte  Terese,  Vol.  I,  pp.  22  ff. 

8  Born  in  1533  at  Cervera  in  Spain,  he  entered  among  the  Jesuits  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two.  Ordained  priest  in  1558,  next  year  he  became 
the  Minister  of  the  College  of  Avila  and  was  charged  with  the  direction 
of  St  Teresa.  He  directed  her  for  six  years.  In  1566  he  became  Novice- 
master  and  Rector  of  Medina  del  Campo,  then  Procurator  of  the 
Province  of  Castile  at  Rome  in  1571,  Rector  of  Salamanca  in  1574, 
Rector  of  Yillagarcia  in  1577,  Visitor  of  the  Province  of  Aragon  in 
1579,  Provincial  of  Toledo  in  1580,  the  year  of  his  death.  Luis  de  la 
Puente,  Vida  del  V.  F.  Balthasar  Alvarez,  Madrid,  re-edited  in  1880 
by  P.  de  la  Torre  (new  ed.,  Madrid,  1921)  with  appendices;  French 
translation  by  Bouix,  Paris,  1873;  Couderc,  Paris,  1912.  I  quote  the 
latter.  See,  too,  Astrain,  Historia  de  la  Comfania  de  Jesus  en  la 
Asistencia  de  Es-pana,  Vol.  Ill,  189  ff. 

3   Vie  de  sainte  Tirese,  chap.  xxiv. 

in.  8 


in  Cbristiau  Spirituality 

such  eagerness,  answered  the  letter  without  delay,  and  wrote 
outside  close  to  the  address  :  '  Not  to  be  opened  for  a  month/ 
This  she  did,  and  it  was  no  small  mortification  to  her."1 

He  tried  her  still  more — may  we  not  say,  to  the  point  of 
hardship? — when  nearly  everyone  was  treating-  the  saint  as 
a  visionary. 

"  Sometimes  he  told  her  purposely  that  everybody  affirmed 
that  what  she  experienced  was  an  illusion  of  the  devil,  allow- 
ing- her  to  understand  that  he  shared  their  opinion.  He  kept 
her  from  Holy  Communion  for  twenty  days  to  see  how  she 
would  endure  it.  He  tried  her  with  such  mortifications  that 
she  was  several  times  tempted  to  abandon  him,  so  much  did 
he  distress  and  urge  her  !  But  whenever  she  yielded  to  the 
temptation  to  leave  him,  she  felt  herself  inwardly  rebuked 
and  urged  not  to  do  it."2 

The  trial  was  certainly  pushed  too  far.  Balthazar  Alvarez 
wished  to  keep  Teresa  to  discursive  prayer  by  force.  Dis- 
trustful of  himself,  he  sought  counsel  on  the  subject:  "  His 
great  humility,"  says  Teresa  with  subtle  delicacy,  "was  to 
me  the  source  of  many  sufferings,  for,  although  a  man  of 
much  prayer  as  well  as  knowledge,  he  did  not  trust  to  him- 
self in  the  matter,  since  the  Lord  used  not  to  lead  him  by 
this  way."3 

The  young  confessor's  humility  did  not,  however,  make 
him  blind.  He  finally  recognized  very  clearly  the  divine 
nature  of  Teresa's  revelations  and  visions.  These  super- 
natural phenomena  coincided  with  such  an  increase  in  the 
virtues  of  his  penitent  that  they  could  not  be  of  diabolical 
origin.  Balthazar  Alvarez,  too,  was  himself  treated  as  a 
visionary  for  believing  in  the  visions  of  Teresa. 

"  He  had  to  bear  all  kinds  of  troubles  on  my  behalf,"  says 
St  Teresa.  "  They  told  him,  as  I  have  learnt  since,  to  beware 
of  me,  for  if  he  gave  the  least  credence  to  my  words  he 
would  fall  into  the  snare  of  the  devil,  and  they  mentioned 
what  had  happened  to  others.  All  this  distressed  me  ex- 
tremely. I  feared  a  time  might  come  when  no  one  would  be 
willing  to  hear  my  confessions  and  everyone  would  flee  from 
me;  I  did  nothing  but  weep."4 


Balthazar   Alvarez   was   soon   to   experience,    on   his   own 
account,  similar  contradictions. 

1  Vie  du  P.  Balthazar  Alvarez,  p.  102,  Couderc. 

2  ibid.     Cf.   Vie  de  sainte  Terese,  chap.  xxvi. 

s  Vie  de  sainte  Terese,  chap,  xxviii.  Balthazar  Alvarez  was  then  at 
the  College  of  St  Giles  of  Avila,  under  the  Rector  Denis  Vasquez,  con- 
fessor and  companion  of  St  Francis  Borgia,  and  a  man  of  extreme 
severity. 

4  ibid.  Later  on,  Balthazar  Alvarez  strongly  encouraged  the  saint 
in  founding  monasteries.     Cf.  Foundations,  chap.   iii. 


Before  St  Teresa  115 

Sent  to  Medina  del  Campo  in  1566  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  rector  and  novice-master,  he  was  raised  in  the  following- 
year  to  the  prayer  of  quiet  and  of  union.1  He  then  knew  by 
experience  the  mystical  state  of  which  St  Teresa  had  so  often 
spoken  to  him. 

At  first  he  was  not  disturbed  in  any  way.  He  was  even 
reputed  to  have  received  from  heaven  much  "  enlightenment 
and  understanding  "  on  the  question  of  prayer.  He  was  also 
entrusted  with  a  confidential  mission. 

In  J574  tne  Inquisition  issued  another  edict  against  the 
Alumbrados.  "  On  this  occasion  Father  John  Suarez,  pro- 
vincial of  the  province  of  Castile,  wanting  not  even  a  shadow 
of  such  errors  to  be  found  among  the  Jesuits  who  practise 
mental  prayer  and  are  familiar  with  things  spiritual,  gave 
Father  Balthazar  ...  an  order  to  compose  a  little  treatise  on 
the  way  to  speak  thereon  in  conformity  with  the  truth  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Church."2 

The  Alumbrados,  as  we  know,  exaggerated  the  need  and 
the  effects  of  mental  prayer.  "  No  one,  apart  from  mental 
prayer,"  they  claimed,  "can  be,  or  persevere,  in  a  state  of 
grace."  On  the  other  hand,  "alone,  such  prayer  is  enough 
to  make  anyone  perfect."3  Moreover,  these  were  not  the  only 
falsities  of  their  teaching. 

Balthazar  Alvarez  examines  one  after  another  their  errors 
on  prayer,  on  the  soul's  communications  with  God  while  on 
earth,  on  the  sensible  consolations  of  devotion,  on  confes- 
sion and  communion,  on  marriage,  chastity,  and  the  religious 
Orders.  He  criticizes  them  closely,  and  shows  their  entire 
opposition  to  the  traditional  teaching  of  the  Church.  His 
treatise  is  one  of  the  best  refutations  of  the  false  Spanish 
mysticism  of  the  time.4 

These  events  led  anew  to  the  over-excitement  of  men's 
minds.  They  spoke  much  of  mental  prayer  and  of  methods 
of  prayer.  And,  as  often  happens  in  such  circumstances,  the 
disciples  of  Balthazar  Alvarez  attributed  compromising  state- 
ments to  their  master  : 

"They  spoke  of  prayer,"  says  Luis  de  la  Puente,  "in 
terms  far  away  from  the  thought  of  their  master;  they  said 
or  did  things  which  led  those  who  were  well  instructed  and 
zealous   to   form  no  good  opinion  of  the  method  that  they 

1  Vie  du  P.  B.  Alvarez,  chap,  xxxiii,  p.  314. 

2  ibid.  The  treatise  of  Balthazar  Alvarez  against  the  Alumbrados 
appears  to  be  prior  to  the  discussions  about  to  be  related.  When  the 
Inquisition  published  its  edict  against  the  false  mystics,  if  the 
spirituality  of  B.  Alvarez  had  been  suspected,  he  would  not  have  been 
asked  for  his  treatise  on  prayer. 

3  ibid.,  p.  316. 

*  A  lengthy  analysis  of  it  is  given  in  chap,  xxxiii  of  the  Vie  du  P. 
B.  Alvarez,  pp.  314-329.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  documents 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  the  Alumbrados. 


n6  Cbrtetfatt  Sptritualtt\? 

followed  nor  of  the  master  to  whom  they  attributed  it,  as  if 
he  were  the  one  who  used  them  as  his  mouthpiece.  It  was 
a  still  graver  matter  when  they  thought  that  certain  ignorant 
or  indiscreet  persons  appeared  to  despise  the  use  of  mental 
prayer  by  means  of  deductions,  affections,  demands  and 
colloquies,  as  taught  by  the  Blessed  St  Ignatius  in  his  book 
of  Spiritual  Exercises.  These,  said  they,  are  but  perambula- 
tors, which  are  good  enough  for  children  till  they  have  learnt 
to  walk,  and  that  is  all ;  for  when  they  can  wralk  they  are 
allowed  to  go  as  they  please  and  without  taking  such  trouble. 
The  Holy  Ghost  will  not  be  tied  to  rules  and  to  methods  of 
prayer ;  he  '  bloweth  where  he  will  and  as  he  will. '  .  .  . 
Hence  these  imprudent  persons,  more  presumptuous  than 
experienced,  wanted  everyone  to  follow  the  road  they  took 
themselves,  and  turned  them  away  from  the  path  ordinarily 
used  by  the  faithful."1 

Balthazar  Alvarez  was  then  Rector  of  Salamanca.  His 
followers'  indiscretions  ended  in  his  kind  of  spirituality  being 
disputed.  Was  not  his  exalted  prayer  mere  illusion,  "  a 
work  of  Satan  changed  into  an  angel  of  light"? 

"  There  were  found  even  some  who  threatened  to  hand  him 
over  to  the  Inquisition,  for  they  questioned  whether  he  were 
not  rather  given  to  the  error  of  the  Illuminati.  He  was  sus- 
pected of  taking  no  account  of  methods  of  prayer  by  means 
of  reasoning  and  meditation  as  used  in  the  Society  and 
approved  by  the  saints,  and  of  desiring  to  lead  the  religious 
by  other  singular  and  perilous  paths."2 

In  fact,  Balthazar  Alvarez,  being  used  to  mystical  prayer, 
in  teaching  his  young  religious,  did  not  give  what  was 
regarded  as  a  sufficiently  important  part  to  discursive  medita- 
tion. He  said  clearly,  indeed,  that  the  mystical  ways  could 
not  be  followed  by  all  as  easily  as  the  method  of  St  Ignatius. 
"  But,"  he  added,  "  God  can  call  everyone  to  them  if  he 
will."3  And  he  ordinarily  calls  thereto  all  who  have  labori- 
ously prepared  themselves  for  them  "  by  purity  of  heart,  by 
mortification  of  their  passions,  and  by  long  exercises  of 
meditation."4  Such  preparation  requires  time.  Those 
who  "  have  to  devote  themselves  to  the  salvation  of  their 
neighbours  "  will  succeed  still  more  surely  in  attaining  such 
heavenly  favours  : 

"  That  there  are  in  the  Society,"  added  Alvarez,  "  wherein 
men  are  so  desirous  to  please  God,  subjects  who  are  raised 
to  this  degree  [of  prayer],  this  seems  to  me  to  be  evident. 
But,  to  keep  away  those  whom  God  our  Lord  has  made  to 

1   Vie  du  P.  B.  Alvarez,  chap,  xli,  pp.  402-403. 
3  id.,  chap,  xl,  pp.  394-395- 

3  id.,  chap,  xiii,  p.  125. 

4  id.,  chap,  xiv,  p.  135.  Cf.  chap,  xiii,  p.  125  :  God  calls  "  after 
a  long  use  of  meditation  and  reflection." 


Before  St  ZTeresa  117 

ascend  thereto,  especially  if  one  has  no  experience  of  this 
manner,  that  appears  to  me  not  to  be  permitted  in  conscience 
and  to  involve  a  risk  of  injuring-  their  souls  and  even  their 
health.  This  is  Ossuna's  opinion  in  his  Abecedario:  '  We 
are  not  free  from  sin  when  we  turn  anyone  aside  from  God's 
way.'  Elsewhere  we  read  :  'If  a  superior  did  this,  God 
would  shorten  his  life  if  he  did  not  retract  his  decision.'  To 
act  thus  by  means  of  examination  and  trial  is  quite  another 
thing,  and  the  office  of  superiors  enables  them  to  do 
this."1 

The  threat  of  Ossuna,  as  we  shall  see,  did  not  intimidate 
the  superiors  of  Balthazar  Alvarez. 

His  provincial,  John  Suarez,  asked  him — Alvarez  was  still 
Rector  of  Salamanca — to  "  give  an  account  of  his  prayer, 
and  of  what  happened  to  him  while  he  was  engaged  therein."2 
Balthazar  immediately  composed  a  full  account  of  what  he 
had  been  asked  for.  Then,  to  the  written  objections  of  his 
provincial,  he  replied  with  a  second  memorandum  :3 

"  Since  our  Lord  has  granted  me  this  '  mercy,' "  says 
Balthazar  Alvarez,  "  my  prayer  consists  in  putting  myself 
in  his  presence  which  I  enjoy  within,  and  also  corporally, 
usually  continuously,  sometimes  finding  my  joy  with  him.  .  .  . 

"  At  other  times  I  am  in  prayer,  reasoning  according  to 
the  meanings  given  to  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture  and  fol- 
lowing inward  teachings ;  sometimes  I  keep  silence  and  relish 
a  holy  repose.  This  silent  repose  in  the  presence  of  God  is 
a  great  treasure,  because  everything  speaks  to  him,  every- 
thing is  open  to  his  eyes,  my  heart,  my  desires,  my  aims,  my 
trials,  my  feelings,  my  knowledge,  and  my  capacity.   .   .   . 

"  Usually  there  is  no  reasoning,  but  there  is  always  peti- 
tion :  and  whilst  our  Lord  keeps  my  soul  in  a  state  of  repose, 
it  makes  all  sorts  of  acts  of  virtue,  and  consequently,  of 
petition,  not  by  an  act  which  the  theologians  call  '  marked,' 
but  by  an  act  'exercised.'  In  fact,  does  this  soul  of  mine, 
silent  before  God,  trusting  that,  by  appearing  in  his  presence, 
its  heart  and  all  its  heart's  desires  are  manifested  to  him, 
cease  from  petitioning?"4  .   .   . 

Balthazar  Alvarez  calls  his  prayer  "  the  prayer  of  silence," 
because  the  soul  keeps  in  the  presence  of  God  without  much 
speaking  and  even  without  speaking  at  all ;  it  is  in  a  state 
of  "  spiritual  repose."  The  soul  appears  before  God  with  its 
desires  which  "  are  to  God  what  words  are  to  man."5     In 

1  Vie  dn  P.  B.  Alvarez,  chap,  xiii,  pp.  125-126. 

2  id.,  chap,  xiii,  p.   116. 

3  Luis    de   la    Puente   sums    up    these    two    accounts   of    Alvarez    in 
chap,  xiii  and  xiv  of  his  Life. 

4  Vie,  chap,  xiii,  pp.   119,   121,   124.     Luis  de  la  Puente  also  quotes 
extracts  from  this  second  memorial  in  chaps,  xiv  and  xli. 

8  id.,  xiii,  p.  124. 


ii 8  Cbristian  Spirituality 

fine,  here  we  have  the  prayer  of  quiet  and  of  union  so  much 
spoken  of  by  St  Teresa. 

The  intervention  of  the  Provincial  John  Suarez  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  followed  by  sanctions.  This  was  not 
the   case   with    that  of   the   Visitor   Diego   de   Avellaneda    in 

x577- 
As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  the  province  of  Castile,  Diego  de 

Avellaneda  asked  Balthazar  Alvarez,  then  Rector  of  Villa- 
garcia,  for  a  memorandum — the  third — on  his  way  of  prayer.1 
The  visitor,  having-  taken  knowledge  of  it,  enjoined  upon  the 
rector  to  make  no  use  "  either  in  his  own  case  or  in  the  case 
of  others  of  any  manner  of  prayer  differing  from  that  of  the 
Exercises."  It  would  not  be  enough  for  him  to  show  "  more 
esteem  and  affection  for  the  method  of  prayer  of  the  Exer- 
cesis,"  but  he  should  prefer  it  "to  any  other  whatsoever, 
entirely  following  the  method  of  prayer"  of  his  Institute, 
"  both  in  his  own  case  and  in  the  case  of  all  whom  he 
directed."  The  General  of  the  Society,  Everard  Mercurian, 
approved  of  the  conduct  of  the  visitor.2 

Measures  were  taken  in  consequence  of  these  events.  The 
religious  of  the  Society  were  bound  still  more  firmly  to  the 
method  of  prayer  of  the  Exercises,  which  many  of  them  ap- 
peared to  disdain.  They  were  also  forbidden  to  read  certain 
mystics,  and  especially  Tauler  and  Harphius,  without  a 
special  authorization.3 


This  severity  proves  that  the  Jesuit  superiors  were  resolved 
to  maintain  their  religious  in  asceticism  and  in  the  discursive 
prayer  prescribed  in  the  Spiritual  Exercises.  Did  not 
prudence  counsel  thus?  There  were  so  many  and  such 
dangerous  errors  about  prayer,  and  they  were  to  be  met  with 
in  Andalusia  and  even  in  Castile  at  every  turn  !  Lastly,  the 
Inquisition  was  on  the  watch,  and  woe  to  anyone  whom  it 
set  upon  !  Later  on,  circumstances  changed,  and  a  General 
of  the  Jesuits,  Claud  Acquaviva,  was  able  to  put  things  right. 

The  publication  of  works  of  mysticism  was,  in  these  circum- 
stances, impossible. 

In  1573  Ribera  ventured  to  write  a  treatise  On  Contempla- 
tion, but  he  wrote  it  in  Latin,  and  issued  it  at  Cologne.  We 
are  astonished  to  find  that  the  Augustinian  Sebastian  Foscari 

1  Luis  de  la  Puente  does  not  mention  this  memorandum.  It  may 
be  found  in  Appendix  xix  of  J.  de  la  Torre's  reissue  of  the  Vie  de  B. 
Alvarez  (1880). 

2  See  Astrain,  Historia  de  la  Comfahia  de  Jesus  en  la  Asistencia  de 
Esfana,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  191  ff. ;  P.  Dudon,  Uoraison  du  P.  B.  Alvarez 
[Revue  d'Asc.  et  de  Myst.,  1921,  pp.  36  ff.). 

3  Cf.  Alphonsus  Rodriguez,  Practice  of  Christian  Perfection,  Part  I, 
Treatise  V,  chap.  iv. 


Before  St  Ueresa  119 

was  able  to  bring  out  at  Madrid  in  the  same  year,  a  book  on 
Mistica  Teologia.1 

In  1583  the  Inquisition  published  another  Index,2  certainly 
less  severe  than  that  of  1559,  but  hardly  likely  to  reassure 
writers.  St  Teresa  died  the  year  before  in  1582.  None  of 
her  immortal  works  were  issued  during-  her  lifetime.  The 
first  to  see  the  light,  "  the  least  compromising,  the  most 
moderate,  the  most  purely  ascetic  in  its  tendency,"  was  the 
Way  of  Perfection,  published  at  Evora  in  1583.  It  was  only 
five  years  later  that  Luis  de  Leon  issued  the  first  edition  of 
the  saint's  Works.  This  publication  did  not  completely 
disarm  all  hostility  to  mysticism.  But  at  any  rate  mysticism 
now  wins  once  and  for  ever  the  right  of  citizenship  in  Spain. 


VIII— THE  AUGUSTINIANS  :   LUIS  DE  LEON 
AND  THOMAS  OF  JESUS  (D'ANDRADA) 

Luis  de  Leon3  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  Spanish  writers  and 
poets  of  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His 
literary  superiority  is  undisputed.  Spanish  owes  a  great 
deal  to  him.  He  wielded  it  with  great  suppleness,  and  con- 
tributed to  its  full  development  more  than  anyone  else.4 

He  loved  his  mother  tongue  too  much  not  to  make  use  of 
it  in  preference  to  Latin,  even  in  his  theological  works.  To 
those  who  reproached  him,  he  replied  "  that  their  national 
language  had  but  small  claims  upon  them,  since  that  for  its 
sake  they  detested  what  they  would  have  approved  of  in 
another  tongue.  I  confess,"  he  added,  "that  I  can  hardly 
explain  such  revulsion,  whereof  our  speech  is  certainly  un- 
worthy, nor  their  worship  of  Latin,  which  we  know  certainly 
to  be  no  better  than  Spanish,  although,  truth  to  tell,  we 
suspect  not  at  all  how  rich  is  the  latter.  They  find  it  strange, 
too,  that  in   speaking  the   language  of   the  people   I   put  a 

1  At  Saragossa,  about  1570,  appeared  the  Union  del  alma,  by  Enecon 
Aberca  de  Bolea. 

2  It  was  published  by  Cardinal  Quiroga,  then  Grand  Inquisitor. 
Cf.  Fr.  Reusch,  Die  Indices  librorum  frohibitorum  des  XVI  Jahr- 
hunderts,  Tubingen,  1886,  in  the  collection  of  the  Litterarisches  Verein, 
Stuttgart,  Vol.  clxxvi. 

3  Luis  de  Leon  was  born  at  Madrid  (others  say  at  Granada)  in  1527. 
He  studied  at  the  University  of  Salamanca,  joined  the  Augustinians  of 
that  town  in  1544,  and  soon  gained  a  great  reputation  owing  to  his 
learning.  In  1588  he  was  elected  Vicar  General  of  the  Augustinians, 
and  then  became  Provincial  of  Castile.  He  died  at  Villa-de-Madrigal 
in  1591.  Cf.  Fray  Vidal,  History  of  the  Institute  of  the  Augustinians 
of  Salamanca,  Madrid,  1571.  A  good  edition  of  the  Works  of  Luis  de 
Leon  is  that  of  Madrid,  1804-1816,  16  vols.  :  Todas  obras,  reconocidas 
y  cotejadas  con  varios  manuscritos  autenticos  por  el  P.  M.  Fr.  Antolino 
Merino;  Rivadeneyra,  Autores  Esfanoles,  Obras  del  maestro  Luis  de 
Leon,  Vol.  XXXVII. 

*  Bibliotheca  Hisfana  nova,  Madrid,  1788. 


120  Gbristtan  Spirituality 

certain  amount  of  elegance  into  my  discourses,  seeking  har- 
mony of  phrase,  propriety  of  expression,  and  richly  turned 
periods.  They  fancy  that  to  use  the  common  speech  is  to 
speak  like  the  common  people."1 

It  was  not  only  his  love  of  his  mother  tongue  that  led  him 
to  write  in  Spanish.  Like  Luis  of  Granada,  he  understood 
how  necessary  it  was  to  write  in  the  popular  language  to 
instruct  the  people  in  religious  doctrine  and  to  combat  bad 
books.  More  than  Luis  of  Granada  he  had  to  suffer  for  this 
innovation. 

In  1 561  he  wrote  in  Spanish  a  short  explanation  of  the 
Canticle  of  Canticles  for  a  nun.  Denounced  to  the  Inquisi- 
tors, he  was  cast  into  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
remained  there  five  years.  It  was  during  his  captivity  that 
he  had  the  idea  of  composing  his  masterpiece  :  Los  nombres 
de  Cristo  (The  Names  of  Christ). 

After  the  fashion  of  the  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix,  Luis 
de  Leon  makes  three  Augustinians  discourse  upon  the  various 
names  of  Christ  taken  from  the  Scriptures.  This  pious 
colloquy  sets  forth  a  deep  spiritual  christology,  which  is  a 
forerunner  of  that  which  was  to  be  taught  by  the  French 
School  a  few  years  afterwards. 

"  The  name  ..."  says  Luis  de  Leon,  "  is  a  word  which  is 
put  in  place  of  the  thing  or  person  whereof  we  speak,  and  it 
is  taken  for  that  thing  or  person."2  To  explain  the  various 
names  of  Christ  is  therefore  to  speak  of  what  he  is,  of  his 
greatness,  his  virtues,  his  offices,  and  of  our  duty  towards 
him.  In  a  word,  it  means  to  base  our  piety  on  devotion  to 
the  Saviour. 

Why  does  Holy  Scripture  give  several  names  to  Jesus? 
"  The  reason,"  says  Luis  de  Leon,  "  lies  in  his  infinite 
greatness,  in  the  treasure  of  his  perfections,  as  well  as  in 
the  diversity  of  his  offices  and  of  the  goods  that  flow  from 
him  to  us.  The  soul  cannot  embrace  all  this  with  a  single 
glance,  nor  can  it  be  expressed  with  a  single  word.  Thus, 
as  he  who  pours  water  into  a  vase  with  a  long  and  narrow 
neck  fills  it  drop  by  drop  and  not  all  at  once,  so  the  Holy 
Spirit,  knowing  how  narrow  and  limited  is  our  understand- 
ing, does  not  put  before  us  all  this  immense  greatness  at 
the  same  time,  but  he  offers  it  to  us,  so  to  speak,  in  frag- 
ments,  revealing  to  us  one  part  of  it  under  the  veil  of  a 

1  Los  nombres  de  Cristo,  Book  III,  see  Rivadeneyra,  Autores 
Esfanoles,  Vol.  XXXVII.  The  other  chief  works  of  Luis  de  Leon  are  : 
In  Cantica  canticorum  exflanatio,  Salamanca,  1580;  In  -psalmum 
XXVI  comment.,  Salamanca,  15S0,  in  which  he  complains  of  his 
captivity;  La  ferfecta  Casada  {The  Perfect  Wife),  1583.  After  his 
death  in  1618,  the  Explanation  of  the  Psalm  "  Miserere  "  was  published 
at  Madrid. 

2  Postel's  French  translation  of  The  Names  of  Christ,  p.  50  (Paris, 
1862). 


^Before  St  TTeresa  121 

Name,  another  part  under  that  of  a  different  Name,  and  so 
forth  throughout.  Hence  the  number  of  the  names  given  to 
the  Saviour  in  Holy  Scripture."1 

Amongst  these  names  the  writer  selects  a  few  which  seem 
to  him  of  greater  importance  and  more  inclusive,  and  then 
explains  them.2 

The  wealth  of  doctrine  and  charm  of  style  secured  an 
extraordinary  success  for  the  Nombres  de  Cristo.  This  cele- 
brated work  found  its  way  into  all  the  literary  collections  of 
the  peninsula,  and  was  included  in  all  libraries  of  devotional 
reading.  It  gave  its  author  a  henceforth  undisputed  authority, 
so  that,  when  the  Carmelites  thought  of  publishing  the  first 
edition  of  the  Works  of  St  Teresa,  they  begged  the  famous 
Augustinian  to  take  charge  of  it.  "  By  his  knowledge  and 
the  authority  of  his  name  no  less  than  by  his  admiration  for 
St  Teresa,  Luis  de  Leon  seemed  eminently  fitted  to  carry  out 
this  delicate  and  important  business  with  happy  results."3 


Of  less  literary  value  than  his  Spanish  brother,  the  Portu- 
gese, Thomas  d'Andrada,  better  known  as  Thomas  of  Jesus,4 
edified  many  by  his  meditations  on  the  Sufferings  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

He  wrote  them  during  his  long  and  hard  captivity  among 
the  Moors  in  Africa,  whither  he  had  accompanied  the  luck- 
less Portugese  army  in  1578.  Thomas  of  Jesus  was  interned 
in  a  narrow  cell,  and,  being  unable  to  care  for  the  imprisoned 
soldiers,  wrote  in  order  to  encourage  and  comfort  them.  His 
work  was  thought  out  "  in  his  actual  experience  of  the  cross." 
And  with  what  realism  does  he  describe  the  Saviour's  suffer- 
ings !  Thomas  of  Jesus  appears  to  have  suffered  them  him- 
self, such  is  the  unction  with  which  he  speaks.  And  what 
outbursts  of  love  does  he  utter,   sanctified  as  he  is  by  the 

1  Postel's  French  translation  of  The  Names  of  Christ,  p.  65. 

2  These  are  :  Jesus  Christ  the  Offshoot  or  Fruit — the  Face  of  God — 
the  Way— the  Shepherd — the  Mountain  of  God — the  Father  of  the 
world  to  come — the  Prince  of  Peace— the  Spouse — the  Son  of  God — the 
Well-beloved — the  Lamb  of  God — and  above  all,  the  Name  of  Jesus. 

3  Introduction  aux  (Euvres  de  sainte  Tirese,  Polit,  Paris,  1907, 
p.  xxxii. 

*  Thomas  d'Andrada  was  born  at  Coimbra  in  Portugal  about  1530. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  joined  the  Augustinians  of  Lisbon.  He  tried, 
though  not  quite  successfully,  to  reform  the  Portuguese  Augustinians. 
In  1578  he  accompanied  King  Sebastian  in  the  tragic  African  expedi- 
tion, in  which  he  underwent  a  long  and  hard  captivity  among  the 
Moors,  and  he  died  in  prison  in  1582.  The  work  of  Thomas  of  Jesus, 
The  Sufferings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  appeared  first  of  all  in 
Portuguese.  It  was  very  soon  translated  into  Spanish,  Italian,  and 
Latin  under  various  titles.  One  of  the  first  French  translations  was 
entitled  The  Works  of  Jesus,  a  tasteless  allusion  to  The  Works  of 
Hercules,  by  Collucio  Salutati.  Fr.  Alleaume,  S.J.,  published  a  French 
translation  at  Toulouse  in  1820. 


122  Cbristian  Spirituality 

torments  of  his  imprisonment  endured  in  close  union  with  the 
sufferings  of  Christ ! 

The  work  of  Thomas  of  Jesus — and  this  has  not  been 
sufficiently  noticed — is  not  only  a  collection  of  aspirations 
founded  on  the  various  suffering's  of  our  Saviour,  it  is  also 
a  little  treatise  of  true  devotion.  In  the  Spiritual  Counsels 
preceding  the  meditations,  the  pious  Augustinian  reminds  the 
many  who  then  forgot  that  perfection  does  not  consist  in 
extraordinary  graces  : 

"  Too  often  it  happens,"  he  says,  "  that  those  who  aspire 
to  Christian  perfection  are  mistaken  as  to  the  way  in  which 
they  understand  things  spiritual.  When  they  read  of  the 
actions  of  the  saints  and  consider  their  austerities,  fervours, 
ecstasies,  and  other  extraordinary  graces  wrought  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  such  strong  souls,  they  are  drawn  towards  the 
marvellous  in  them  without  reflecting  on  the  foundation  of 
the  noble  structure  and  the  way  by  which  sanctity  has  been 
attained.   .   .   . 

"  Now  (the  spiritual  life)  consists  of  two  things,  mortifica- 
tion and  the  love  of  God.  Mortification,  if  it  does  not  lead 
to  the  love  of  God,  is  to  be  suspected.  He  who  would  draw 
near  to  God  must  not  separate  these  two  things  which  are 
at  once  the  foundation  and  the  summit  of  perfection."1 

The  reader  is  very  naturally  led  to  conclude  that  medita- 
tion on  the  sufferings  of  the  God-man  is  eminently  calculated 
to  perfect  the  faithful. 

Thomas  of  Jesus  explains  how  the  meditation  must  be 
made.  His  method  is  like  that  of  Luis  of  Granada,  and  he 
adds  some  counsels  as  to  the  examination  of  conscience. 
Then  come  fifty  meditations  on  the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  which 
form  the  greater  part  of  the  work.2 

Thomas  of  Jesus,  like  the  writer  of  the  Imitation,  regards 
"  all  the  life  of  Christ  as  a  cross  and  a  martyrdom."  Jesus 
suffered  most  of  all  in  his  Passion  :  he  also  suffered  in  all 
the  circumstances  of  his  life.  Thus  Thomas  of  Jesus  runs 
through  all  the  mysteries  of  the  earthly  life  of  Christ  from 
his  conception  in  the  virginal  womb  of  Mary  till  his  last 
breath  upon  the  cross,  and  he  reflects  in  each  of  them  upon 
the  suffering  which  it  contained.  It  is  the  suffering  Christ 
who  is  set  before  us  by  the  writer.  Luis  de  Leon  shows  us 
Christ  in  his  beauty  and  splendour  and  divine  glory.  He 
stirs  us  to  admiration  and  draws  us  powerfully  to  the  Spouse 
of  our  souls.  Thomas  of  Jesus  makes  us  contemplate  Christ 
in  pity  as  the  Man  of  Sorrows  on  our  behalf.  He  fills  our 
hearts    with    compassion,    he    sets    our   tears    flowing,    and, 

1  Avis  sfirituels,  chap,  i,  Vol.  I,  pp.  9,  12,  Alleaume's  translation. 

2  Each  meditation  is  followed  by  a  colloquy  with  our  Lord  on  the 
particular  suffering  of  that  meditation. 


Before  St  Ueresa  123 

despite   our  natural    repugnance   for   suffering-,    we   come   to 
desire  to  suffer  with  Christ  and  for  Christ. 

Luis  de  Leon  and  Thomas  of  Jesus  have  left  us  fine 
examples  of  the  way  in  which  many  regarded  devotion  to 
Christ  in  Spain  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   SPANISH    CARMELITE   SCHOOL— SAINT   TERESA 

THE   Carmelite   Order,1    in   the   sixteenth  century, 
gave  Spain  St  Teresa  and  St  John  of  the  Cross. 
Thus    it    shed    upon   the    Spanish    School    such   a 
brilliance  as  will  never  be  surpassed,  perhaps  not 
even  equalled,  by  any  other  school  of  spirituality. 
In  St  Teresa  we  may  study  the  saint,   the  reformer,   the 
foundress,   and  the  mystic.2     Here  we  shall  deal  only  with 
the  mystic. 

I— CHARACTERISTICS  OF  TERESIAN  MYSTICISM 

St  Teresa  is  a  mystical  writer  of  the  first  rank.3  More  than 
anyone  else  did  she  teach  the  Spanish  tongue  to  speak 
"the   language  of  the  angels."      She   "is   the  writer  most 

1  The  Carmelites  were  a  flourishing  Order  in  the  twelfth  century. 
Berthold,  a  Calabrian  crusader,  was  living  as  a  hermit  on  Mount 
Carmel  with  ten  companions,  about  1156.  Their  Rule  was  probably 
that  of  St  Augustine.  About  1209,  St  Albert,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
drew  up  the  Carmelite  Rule.  The  Order  had  several  convents  in  the 
Holy  Land,  as  many  as  the  incursions  of  the  Saracens  permitted.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  the  Carmelites  came  to  Europe.  The  first  Prior 
General  was  St  Simon  Stock.  The  Rule  of  St  Albert  was  modified 
by  Pope  Innocent  IV  in  1247  in  order  to  change  the  eremitic  into  the 
coenobitic  life.  In  1431  this  Rule  was  mitigated  by  Pope  Eugene  IV, 
and  the  latter  Rule  was  carried  out,  so  far  as  he  could  get  it  observed, 
by  Bl.  John  Soreth.  It  was  while  he  was  General  that  the  first  convent 
of  Carmelite  nuns  was  founded  under  the  Rule  of  the  brethren.  To- 
wards the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  were  houses  of  Carmelite 
nuns  in  France,  Italy,  and  Spain.  It  was  into  one  of  the  last,  the 
Convent  of  the  Incarnation  at  Avila,  that  St  Teresa  entered,  in  1535, 
at  twenty  years  of  age.  She  reformed  this  house,  and  devoted  it  to 
the  contemplative  life,  to  poverty,  and  to  strict  enclosure.  She  also  set 
up  a  reformation  among  the  men  Carmelites.  See  Diet,  de  Thiol, 
cath.,  art.  Carmes,  Acta  Sanctorum,  St  Cyril,  March  6;  St  Berthold, 
March  29;  St  Albert,  April  1.  Andre  de  Sainte-Marie,  UOrdre  du 
Mont-Carmel,  Bruges,  1910 ;  Cosme  de  Villers,  Bibliotheca  Carmelitana. 

2  Chief  biographies  of  St  Teresa  :  Diego  de  Yepes,  Vida,  virtudes  y 
milagros  de  la  Bienaventurada  Teresa  de  Jesus,  Madrid,  1587; 
Francisco  de  Ribera,  S.J.,  La  vida  de  la  Madre  Teresa  de  Jesus, 
Salamanca,  1590;  Julian  de  Avila,  Vida  de  Santa  Teresa  de  Jesus, 
1881  :  Henri  Joly,  Sainte  Tirese,  Paris,  1902;  Acta  Sanctorum,  October, 
Vol.  VII. 

*  St  Teresa's  Works  :  Chief  edition,  Los  libros  de  la  Madre  Teresa 
de  Jesus,  by  Luis  de  Leon,  Salamanca,  1588;  Escritos  de  Santa  Teresa, 
Collection  of  Autores  Esfanoles,  Rivadeneyra,  1861,  Vols.  LIV  and  LV ; 

124 


Saint  Zcvcsa  125 

gifted  with  personality  produced  by  the  Spanish  genius  and 
perhaps  by  the  Latin  genius.  In  her  .  .  .  [there  are] 
brilliant  faculties,  exquisite  sensibility,  surprising  philo- 
sophical intuitions,  a  steadiness  of  gaze  which  enables  her 
to  plumb  the  depths  of  man's  soul,  to  discover  its  hidden 
springs  and  to  analyse  its  most  secret  workings,  and,  lastly, 
a  rare  good  sense  allied  with  a  frankness  and  good  grace 
which  enchant  and  captivate  us."1 

She  has  to  the  point  of  excellence  the  very  rare  gift  of 
making  a  fine  analysis  of  her  own  spiritual  psychology,  and 
of  describing  its  various  states  with  astonishing  sureness 
and  luminous  precision.  We  may  find  in  others  the  same 
extraordinary  graces ;  but  no  one  able  to  express  them  with 
the  same  talent  : 

"  To  receive  one  of  God's  favours  is  a  first  grace,"  she 
said ;  "  to  know  wherein  it  consists,  is  a  second ;  lastly,  it 
is  a  third  grace  to  be  able  to  give  an  account  of  it  and  to 
explain  it."2 

"We  shall  have  a  fuller  notion  of  her  intellectual  tempera- 
ment and  literary  genius  if  we  remember  that  she  fed  from 
childhood  upon  the  reading  of  the  romances  of  chivalry.3 
Like  St  Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  all  the  Spanish  nobility  of 
the  time,  she  was  passionately  fond  of  such  books  : 


Phototypical  editions  of  the  Vida  and  the  Fundaciones,  by  La  Fluente 
and  Selfa,  Madrid,  1S73,  1880;  of  the  Castillo,  by  Lluch,  Seville,  1882; 
of  the  Camino  and  the  Modo  de  visitar,  by  Herrero  Bayona,  Valladolid, 
1883.  Silverio  de  Santa  Teresa,  O.C.D.,  Obras  de  Santa  Teresa  de 
Jesus,  Burgos,  1915-1919  (without  the  Letters). 

French  translations  are  many.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned 
the  following  :  De  Bretigny,  Paris,  1601 ;  D'Andilly,  Paris,  1670 ; 
Bouix,  S.J.,  Paris.  1S52-1S61,  in  6  vols.,  since  then  improved; 
CEuvres  completes  de  sainte  Terese  de  Jesus,  by  the  Carmelites  of  Paris, 
6  vols.,  Paris,  T907-1910,  from  which  I  shall  quote.  There  is  no 
critical  edition  of  St  Teresa's  Letters.  There  is  a  new  translation  of 
them  by  Fr.  Gregory  of  St  Joseph,  Pustet.  2nd  ed.,  1906,  3  vols. 

1  CEuvres  de  sainte  Terese,  Vol.  I,  p.  xxiii. 

*  Vie,  chap,  xvii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  213.  St  Teresa  improved  in  the 
art  of  explaining  her  mystical  states  :  "  Then  (1558)  I  had  not,  as  now 
(1565),  the  light  needed  for  giving  good  explanations  "  {Vie,  chap,  xxx, 
CEuvres,  I,  384). 

J  The  chief  ones  were  Amadis  de  Gaule,  in  twenty-four  Books.  The 
first  four  were  published  at  Seville  in  T496.  Amadis  was  followed  by 
a  whole  series  :  Amadis  of  Greece,  in  1532;  Florisel  of  Niquea,  the  son 
of  Amadis  of  Greece,  etc.  ;  French  translation  of  Amadis  de  Gaule,  by 
Hugues  Vagany,  Paris,  191 8.  In  151 1  appeared  the  Palmarin  de  Oliva. 
This  was  followed  by  a  series  the  most  famous  of  which  was  the 
Palmarin  de  Inglaterra,  written  in  1547.  Then  Don  Belianis  de  Grecia, 
etc.  Preachers  and  moralists  made  war  upon  these  books,  which 
certainly  exalted  chivalrous  ideals,  but  by  their  amorous  adventures 
"  turned  the  heads  of  young  women."  Cf.  Malon  de  Chaide,  The 
Conversion  of  the  Magdalen,  Prologue  (Autores  Esfanoles,  Riva- 
denevra,  Vol.  XXVII) ;  Luis  de  Leon,  Nombres  de  Cristo,  Introduction 
(ibid.,  Vol.  XXXVII). 


i26  Cbristiau  Spirituality 

"  I  thought  there  was  no  harm,"  she  humbly  tells  us  in 
her  Life,1  "  in  spending  many  hours  of  the  day  in  so  frivolous 
an  occupation,  even  hiding-  from  my  father,  and  I  became 
so  absorbed  in  it  that  I  could  never  be  happy  without  a 
fresh   book." 

According  to  her  biographer,  Ribera,  she  even  wrote 
along  with  her  brother  Rodriguez  a  chivalrous  and  senti- 
mental romance,  which  was  received  with  appreciation  by 
her  friends.  Later  on  she  saw  that  this  taste  for  romances 
injured  her  soul.2 

If  she  renounced — and  how  generously,  God  knows — such 
frivolities,  her  imagination,  like  that  of  St  Ignatius  of 
Loyola,  kept  the  impression  of  pictures  of  chivalry  which 
refined  her  sensibility.  For  her,  too,  Christ  is  a  king,  a 
conqueror  who  calls  his  vassals  to  the  holy  war  and  desires 
to  lead  them  to  victory  over  themselves.  In  the  depths  of 
the  poor  monasteries  of  Segovia  and  of  Avila,  she  recalls 
the  splendid  castles  of  the  great  men  of  Spain  and  the 
magical  descriptions  of  the  old  romances.  All  round,  the 
moats  are  full  of  water,  swarming  with  serpents  and 
venomous  creatures.  The  many-mansioned  castle  rises  in 
its  majesty,  and  it  stands  for  the  devout  soul.  The  heavenly 
Spouse  is  in  the  central  room,  and  there  awaits  his  bride; 
and  she  will  pass  through  all  the  mansions  to  reach  him 
and  to  unite  with  him  in  a  mystical  marriage  which  is 
indissoluble.3 

A  chivalrous  imagination  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the  word, 
"  a  delicate  and  finely  emotional  sensitiveness,"  "  a  keen 
intelligence,  both  positive  and  practical,"4  these  natural  gifts 
of  Teresa  are  extraordinary ;  they  explain  the  incomparable 
charm  of  her  writings. 


But  whence  comes  the  deep  and  sound  mystical  teaching 
which  they  contain  ? 

Her  old  biographers  were  fond  of  saying  that  she  received 
from  divine  Wisdom  the  beautiful  teaching  which  she  gives 
us.  There  is  nothing  bookish  in  the  mysticism  of  St  Teresa. 
Like  St  Bernard  before  her  and  many  others,  she  "  imparts 
to  us  what  it  had  been  granted  her  to  enjoy  and  know." 
She  gives  us  of  her  own  inmost  spiritual  experiences ;  she 
has  received  supernatural  light  to  discern  them,  and  to  trans- 
late them  into  human  speech.  It  is  not  from  spiritual  writers 
that  she  has  learned  :  she  has  read  but  very  few  of  them  ; 
she    never   quotes    them.   She   often    complains   of    the    bad 

1  Chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  51.  2  ibid.,  p.  50. 

3  CEuvres,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  6,  41,  etc. 

4  R.  Hoornaert,  Sainte  Tir'ese,  icrivain,  p.  x. 


Saint  Geresa  127 

memory  which  prevents  her  from  remembering  what  she 
has  read  or  what  has  been  explained  to  her  : 

"If  only  God  had  given  me  a  little  ability  and  memory  ! " 
she  says  with  a  sigh.  "  Then  I  could  turn  to  some  advan- 
tage what  I  have  read  or  heard.  But  I  am  as  lacking  as 
possible  in  all  that.  If,  then,  I  say  anything  useful,  it  is 
because  God  willed  it  to  be  thus,  to  bring  some  good  out 
of  it."1 

According  to  her  own  testimony,  Teresa  owes  only  to 
God  the  doctrine  she  teaches  us.3 

This  view  of  most  Teresians  is  beginning  to  be  modified 
in  consequence  of  a  closer  study  of  the  literary  sources  from 
which  the  saint  drew.3  Never  mind  !  4i  Far  from  taking 
anything  away  from  Teresa's  personality,"  these  studies 
"  will  only  accentuate  it.  "4 

They  teach  us  that  Teresa  tried  to  get  instruction  in  the 
supernatural  ways  by  the  human  means  within  reach.  Help 
thyself  and  God  will  help  thee  !  "  One  of  the  essential 
tendencies  of  her  mind  is  an  insatiable  and  fruitful  curios: v. 
She  knows  how  to  question  her  confessors  as  well  as  how  to 
answer  them ;  she  is  fond  of  talking  to  theologians  "  who 
are  learned  and  talented " ;  she  listens  to  sermons  and 
homilies  with  eager  attention,  but,  above  all,  does  she  read 
and  re-read,  underline,  and  make  notes  on  the  solid  Castilian 
treatises  which  bring  the  traditional  doctrine  within  her 
reach. 5  When  she  afterwards  writes  down  her  experiences 
of  the  interior  life,  she  makes  use  of  what  she  has  learnt. 

1  Vie,  chap,  x,  (Euvres,  I,  140.  In  the  Prologue  of  the  Interior 
Castle  (C  . 1  VI,   3S),  Teresa  complains,  too,  of  her  bad  memory. 

Doubtless,  it  is  this  defective  memory  that  explains  some  appearances 
of  contradiction  to  be  found  in  her  writing;. 

1  See  this  opinion  of  the  majority  of  Teresians  in  the  general  Intro- 
duction to  GL  Vol.  I,  p.  xxiii. 

3  On  the  sources  of  St  Teresa,  see  Morel-Fatio,  Les  lectures  de  sairJe 
Tirese,  in  the  Bulletin  hisfanique,  VoL  X,  Januar.  Miri.  1908, 
pp.  17-67 ;  R.  Hoornaert,  Sainte  Tirese,  icrivain,  Paris-Lille-Bruges, 
1922;  Gaston  Etchegoyen,  U  amour  divin,  Essat  tur  les  sources  de 
sainte  Tirese,  Bordeaux-Paris. 

*  Hoornaert.  p.  ix.  M.  Etchegoyen  rather  exagg  rates  in  writing 
thus  :  "St  Teresa  had  a  genius  for  assimilation  and  synthesis  rather 
than  for  invention, !:  p.  29. 

*  Etchegoyen,  p.  30.  Copies  of  the  Castilian  books  used  by  Teresa 
have  been  preserved.  They  are  annotated  in  her  own  handwriting. 
They  are  :  The  Letters  of  St  Jerome  (Vie,  chaps,  iii,  xi;  Castle  VI, 
chap,  ix) ;  the  .V orals  on  the  book  of  Job,  by  -  3  re  3.:  '■'-.{. 
chap,  vi  ;  [Waj  Perfection,  chap.  x:i  The  Carthusians  (los 
Cartujanos).    This  was  the  name  of  the  Spanish  translation  of  the 

::i,  by  Ludolph,  the  Carthusian  (Vie,  chap,  xxxvrii ;  Castle,  VII, 
chap.  iv).  The  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ  or  Contemftus  mundi  (Way 
of  Perfection,  chap,  xxxviii ;  Castle,  V,  chap.  ii).  The  Confessions  of 
St  _V  ,:-  ie,  chap.  ix).     St  Teresa  also  read  the  principal  works 

of  Luis  of  Granada  (St  Teresa's  Letter  tc  Luis  c:  Granada,  December 
^>  1S73]-     ^e  know  that  she  read  the  writings   ::'  Aionso  of  Madrid, 


i28  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

Her  reading-  helped  her  to  take  cognizance  of  her  own 
spiritual  states  and  to  unravel  them  : 

"  Scarcely  had  I  begun  to  read  the  Confessions  of 
St  Augustine,"  she  says,  "than  f  seemed  to  have  discovered 
myself." 

It  was  at  the  time  when  she  finally  gave  up  her  "  frivolous 
and  dissipated  life  "  to  yield  herself  entirely  into  the  hands 
of  God. 

"  When  I  had  reached  his  (Augustine's)  conversion,"  she 
adds,  "  the  voice  which  he  heard  in  the  garden,  the  Lord, 
I  believe,  made  it  ring  in  my  ears,  so  keenly  was  my  heart 
touched.  Long  I  remained  bathed  in  tears,  overwhelmed 
with  grief  and  regret."1 

Later  on  she  took  this  work  of  St  Augustine  as  the  model 
for  her  own  biography   for  which  her  confessors   asked. 

It  was  the  Franciscan  Francisco  of  Ossuna  who  revealed 
to  her  the  prayer  of  recollection.  His  book,  the  Tercer 
Abecedario,  gave  her  much  pleasure,  she  says,  and  she 
resolved  to  follow  the  way  which  it  opened  out  to  her  with 
the  greatest  possible  fidelity.2  But  the  most  signal  service 
was  rendered  to  her  by  Bernardino  of  Laredo's  mystical 
book,  the  Ascent  of  Mount  Sion.  Teresa  had  just  been 
habitually  favoured  with  the  prayer  of  quiet,  and  often 
with  that  of  union.  She  could  not  succeed  in  explaining  this 
kind  of  prayer  to  herself,  and  dreaded  illusion.  What  tor- 
mented her  still  more  was  that  she  did  not  know  how  to  tell 
what  she  experienced  : 

"  I  consulted  books,"  she  says,  "  to  see  whether  they 
would  help  me  to  give  an  explanation  of  my  prayer.  In  a 
work  entitled  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Sion,  in  the  place  where 
the  union  of  the  soul  with  God  is  spoken  of,  I  met  with  all 
the  marks  of  that  which  I  experienced  with  regard  to  an 
inability  to  reflect.  And  it  was  just  this  inability  that  I 
specially  remarked  in  this  kind  of  prayer.  I  noted  the  pas- 
sages in  question  with  a  line."3 

Teresa  also  found  in  the  books  that  she  studied  the  images, 
metaphors,  and  allegories  taken  from  the  Bible  or  nature  or 
social  and  family  life,  which  are  usually  employed  to  express 
the  love  of  God  and  to  describe  its  mystical  effects  in  the 
soul.  From  this  point  of  view  she  owes  much  to  the  Spanish 
spiritual  writers  who  preceded  her.  They  also  revealed  to 
her  the  traditional  and  classic  terminology  used  in  speaking 

of  Francisco  of  Ossuna,  of  Bernardino  of  Laredo,  and  of  St  Peter  of 
Alcantara.  In  her  Constitutions,  St  Teresa  also  recommends  to  her 
prioresses  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  (Flos  Sanctorum)  and  finally  the 
Oratory  of  the  Religious,  by  Antonio  de  Guevara. 

1  Vie,  chap,  ix,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  131. 

2  id.,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  70-71. 

3  id.,  chap,  xxiii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  297. 


Saint  Ueresa  129 

of  supernatural  occurrences  and  of  the  different  degrees  of 
prayer,  but  she  wrote  in  a  style  so  fresh,  so  full  of  personality 
and  genius,  that  everything  appears  to  proceed  from  herself. 


One  of  the  most  striking  singularities  of  Teresian  mysticism 
is  its  lack  of  theory.  Teresa  recounts  her  own  experience, 
describing  what  takes  place  within  her  soul.  She  does  not 
try  to  give  a  philosophical  explanation  of  mystical  union. 
She  never  launches  out  into  metaphysics,  but  always  con- 
fines herself  to  psychology.  Teresa  tells  her  own  story,  and 
does  it  in  a  captivating  way. 

Her  writings  are,  in  fact,  her  own  mystical  autobiography. 
Her  Life,  the  Interior  Castle,  and  even  the  Way  of  Perfec- 
tion are  the  story  of  her  own  seraphic  soul.  The  different 
degrees  of  prayer  which  she  describes  in  them  are  the  stages 
which  she  has  herself  passed  through  to  reach  the  heights  of 
divine  love. 

The  mysticism  of  Teresa,  full  of  genius  as  it  is,  is  there- 
fore not  pure  and  simple  mysticism.  Let  me  explain.  St 
Teresa  describes  her  own  experiences,  the  ways  by  which 
God  has  led  her.  Let  us  not  therefore  conclude  that  all 
mystics  necessarily  pass  by  the  same  way  thereto.  Teresa 
herself  expressly  says  the  contrary.  Very  often  she  reminds 
us  that  she  is  explaining  her  own  experience,  the  way  in 
which  God  has  led  her,  but  the  paths  that  run  towards  per- 
fection are  infinitely  various.1  If  she  divides  her  ascent 
towards  the  highest  kind  of  prayer  into  seven  stages,  if  she 
reckons  seven  mansions  in  the  castle  of  the  soul,  it  does  not 
follow  that  in  the  case  of  everyone  and  of  all  the  saints  there 
must  necessarily  be  seven  degrees  of  the  spiritual  life.  To 
think  so  would  be  to  run  the  risk  of  bringing  false  notions 
into  mystical  theology. 

Since  St  Teresa's  writings  are  an  autobiography,  the  best 
way  to  understand  them  is  to  apprehend  their  teaching  in  act, 
in  the  very  life  of  the  saint.  If  we  constantly  check  Teresa's 
teaching  with  the  story  of  her  life,  we  shall  be  enabled  to 
follow  its  unfolding  with  safety.  But  it  is  sometimes  a 
difficult  matter.  St  Teresa  does  not  always  reckon  with 
chronology ;  she  is  often  in  confusion  as  to  the  dates  of 
occurrences.  She  wrote  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  her 
life,  from  1562  to  1582, a  and  her  memory  is  now  and  then  at 

1  See  CEuvres,  Vol.  I,  p.  xxx. 

*  The  Life  was  drawn  up  in  1562,  then  revised  and  completed  at 
St  Joseph  of  Avila's  from  1562  to  1565.  The  Way  of  Perfection  was 
first  drawn  up  in  1562  at  the  same  monastery,  and  then  for  the  second 
time,  probably  at  Toledo,  during  the  foundations  in  1569  and  1570. 
The  Constitutions,  intended  for  the  nuns  only,  were  composed  at  Avila 
about  1563.  The  Exclamations,  or  impassioned  ejaculations  of  divine 
in.  9 


13°  Christian  Spirituality 

fault.      Here,  too,  as  elsewhere,  history  is  but  an  imperfect 
approximation  to  living  reality. 


II— ST    TERESA'S    TEACHING1— HER    SPIRITUAL 
BIOGRAPHY— MEDITATION 

A — The   Spiritual   Biography  of   St  Teresa 

It  is  in  the  Interior  Castle  that  St  Teresa  has  best  described 
her  religious  experiences. 

Her  biographer,  Yepes,  in  his  deposition  for  her  canoniza- 
tion, thus  relates  how  the  book  was  written  : 

"  On  the  vigil  of  the  feast  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  (1577), 
while  she  was  asking  herself  what  the  fundamental  idea  of 
this  treatise  should  be,  God,  who  orders  all  things  with 
wisdom,  answered  her  prayers  and  provided  her  with  the 
plan  of  her  work.  He  showed  her  a  splendid  globe  of  crystal 
in  the  form  of  a  castle  with  seven  mansions  in  it.  In  the 
seventh,  in  the  very  centre  of  it,  was  the  King  of  glory, 
shining  in  brilliant  splendour  which  lighted  up  and  em- 
bellished all  the  mansions  as  far  as  the  enclosure.  The  nearer 
they  were  to  the  centre,  the  more  they  participated  in  the 
light.  The  illumination  did  not  extend  beyond  the  enclosure  : 
outside  it  there  was  nothing  but  darkness  and  uncleanness, 
frogs,  vipers,  and  other  venomous  creatures."2 

This  castle  represents  the  Christian  soul.  The  entrance- 
gate  is  prayer  which,  by  means  of  recollection,  withdraws 
the  soul  into  itself.  As  long  as  it  lives  outside  of  itself,  in 
dissipation,  more  or  less  the  slave  of  the  senses,  it  stays  in 
the  enclosure  outside  of  the  castle,  along  with  the  reptiles  and 
other  venomous  creatures,  exposed  to  their  bites  which  may 


love,  appear  to  have  been  written  in  several  monasteries  from  1566  to 
1569.  The  Thoughts  on  the  Canticle  of  Canticles  no  doubt  date  from 
1574,  when  the  saint  was  at  Segovia.  The  Book  of  the  Foundations 
was  begun  at  Salamanca  in  1573,  continued  at  Toledo  in  1576,  and 
finished  at  Burgos  in  15S2.  The  Record  of  the  Visitation  of  the 
Monasteries  goes  back  to  1576,  at  Toledo.  The  Interior  Castle,  or 
Mansions  of  the  Soul,  was  composed  in  1577,  first  at  Toledo  and  then 
at  Segovia  and  Avila,  on  the  advice  of  Fr.  Jerome  Gratian,  Carmelite, 
who  was  then  Apostolic  Commissary  of  the  Carmelite  reform.  The 
Interior  Castle  was  to  replace  the  Life,  the  manuscript  of  which  had 
been  kept  by  the  Inquisitors.  The  Counsels  and  the  Spiritual  Relations 
belong  to  various  periods.     Cf.  CEuvres,  Vol.  I,  pp.  xxi-xxii. 

1  See  Poulain,  S.J.,  Les  Graces  d'Oraison,  Ed.  10,  Paris;  Saudreau, 
Les  degres  de  la  vie  sfirituelle,  Paris,  1905  ;  La  Vie  d'union  a  Dieu 
d'apres  les  grands  maitres  de  la  spiritualite,  Paris,  1900 ;  La  Vie 
sfirituelle,  October,  1922;  A.  Tanqueray,  Precis  de  theologie  ascetique 
et  mystique,  pp.  889  ff. 

2  CEuvres  completes  de  saint e  Tirese,  VI,  6. 


Saint  Gevcsa  131 

be  mortal.  When  it  begins  to  give  itself  to  prayer,  it  enters 
into  the  first  mansions  of  the  castle.1  If  it  perseveres,  it  will 
pass  through  these  first  mansions — the  first  three  symbolize 
the  ordinary  kinds  of  prayer — and  it  will  traverse  the  four 
others — the  mystical  mansions — until  it  reaches  the  central 
chamber  to  unite  with  its  divine  Spouse  in  spiritual  marriage. 
Such  is  the  mystical  biography  of  St  Teresa.  In  her  youth, 
until  she  was  sixteen,  she  loved  worldly  frivolities  ;  she  dwelt 
outside  the  castle  with  the  reptiles  in  danger  of  offending 
God.  She  was  converted ;  then  entered  the  Carmelite  Convent 
of  the  Incarnation  of  Avila  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  and  a 
half.  She  then  dwelt  in  the  first  mansions  of  the  castle  until 
she  was  twenty-three,  during  which  period  she  experienced 
times  of  fervour  as  well  as  of  slackness.  She  even  abandoned 
prayer  for  some  time.  Lastly,  she  succeeded  in  breaking 
through  the  impediments  which  kept  her  from  soaring  God- 
ward,  and  finally  entered  into  the  mystical  mansions. 


It  is  in  the  first  chapters  of  her  Life  that  St  Teresa  relates 
the  period  of  her  youth  spent  in  the  enclosure  outside  the 
castle.  They  remind  us  of  the  Confessions  of  St  Augustine. 
It  is  with  the  same  humility  and  with  the  same  grief2  that 
she  reveals,  as  far  as  obedience  allows,  what  she  calls  the 
"  great  sins  "  of  her  "  sad  life."3 

Brought  up  piously  by  her  parents,  when  she  was  about 
the  age  of  sixteen,  Teresa  allowed  the  spirit  of  the  world  to 
enter  into  her  soul.  Her  passionate  fondness  for  novels,  the 
want  of  supervision,  especially  after  her  mother's  death,  the 
frequent  visits  of  rather  flighty  cousins,  and  her  own  natural 
friendliness  with  which  God  had  "  prodigally  endowed  her," 
exposed  her  extremely  to  "  lose  herself  altogether."  She 
was  reassured  by  the  thought  that  this  intercourse  with  the 
world  might  "  happily  end  in  a  marriage."4 

Her  father  grew  uneasy  at  this  state  of  mind,  and  thought 
it  well  to  isolate  Teresa  and  to  have  her  taken  to  the 
Augustinian  Convent  of  Santa  Maria  de  Gracia,  in  which  she 
became  a  boarder.  There  God  opened  her  eyes  to  the  dangers 
she  had  been  through ;  she  began  to  think  seriously,  and, 
becoming  ill,  she  saw  "the  nothingness  of  the  world."  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one  and  a  half  she  joined  the  Carmelite 
Convent  of  the  Incarnation  of  Avila  without  obtaining  her 
father's  consent,  with  a  courage  which  clearly  shows  the 
temper  of  her  soul.  '• 

1  Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap.  i.  2  Life,  chap.  ix. 

8  Life,  Prologue.  St  Teresa's  biographers  assure  us  that  she  never 
knew  a  single  mortal  sin.  Her  writings  give  a  contrary  impression, 
but  saints  are  apt  to  exaggerate  their  faults.     CEuvres,  Vol.  I,  p.  7. 

4  Life,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  56-57. 


132  Cbristian  Spirituality 

"  When  I  left  my  father's  house,"  she  says,  "  I  felt  such 
an  excess  of  grief  that  I  think  that  the  hour  of  my  death 
cannot  hold  in  store  for  me  anything-  more  cruel.  I  felt  as 
if  my  bones  were  breaking-  asunder.  As  the  feeling  of  the 
love  of  God  was  not  strong  enough  to  counterbalance  that 
which  I  had  for  my  father  and  my  kin,  I  was  forced  to  do 
myself  incredible  violence,  and  had  not  God  come  to  my  aid 
all  my  reflections  would  not  have  sufficed  to  make  me  go 
through  with  it.  But  at  this  moment  he  gave  me  the  courage 
to  overcome  myself,  and  I  carried  my  enterprise  out  to  the 
end."1 

In  the  convent  Teresa  was  sheltered  from  great  dangers. 
She  again  knew,  as  we  shall  see,  times  of  slackness  and 
lukewarmness;   but  she  ran  no  risk  of  sinning  gravely. 

All  her  life  long  she  had  such  a  keen  and  sorrowful  feeling 
for  the  days  of  her  youth,  during  which  grave  sin  constantly 
lay  in  wait  for  her.  In  her  latter  years,  when  she  was  writing 
the  Interior  Castle,  her  mind  was  almost  haunted  with  the 
notion  of  the  soul  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin.  She  saw  it 
"  totally  impotent,  like  a  man  closely  bound  and  garrotted, 
with  a  band  over  his  eyes  keeping  him  from  seeing,  unable 
to  walk  or  to  hear,  and  finally  engulfed  in  the  depths  of  dark- 
ness." For  such  a  soul  she  felt  an  unspeakable  pity  and  an 
insatiable  desire  to  deliver  it  from  so  fearful  a  state.  To  set 
it  free,  "  there  was  no  suffering  that  appeared  to  her  to  be 
anything  but  light."2 

It  is  also  to  this  period  of  her  life  that  belongs  the  cele- 
brated vision  of  hell  which  she  had  about  1560.3 

"  One  day,  while  engaged  in  prayer,  I  found  myself  in  a 
moment,  I  know  not  how,  borne  entirely  away  into  hell.  I 
understood  that  God  desired  to  show  me  the  place  prepared 
for  me  by  devils,  and  deserved  by  my  sins.  .  .  . 

"  The  entrance  seemed  to  me  much  like  one  of  the  longest 
and  narrowest  of  alleys,  or  rather  like  a  low,  dark,  and 
cramped  oven.  The  ground  appeared  to  be  like  miry  water, 
extremely  filthy,  with  a  pestilential  smell,  and  full  of  poison- 
ous creatures.  At  the  end  was  a  hollow  made  in  a  wall,  a 
sort  of  closed  recess,  in  which  I  saw  myself  confined  and  very 
pinched  for  room.   .   .   . 

"  In  my  soul  I  felt  a  fire,  the  nature  of  which  I  cannot 
explain,  and  at  the  same  time  I  was  the  victim  of  intolerable 
bodily  sufferings.  During  my  life  I  have  experienced  some 
which  were  very  sharp,  and,  according  to  the  doctors,  some 

1  id.,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  66. 

2  Spiritual  Relations,  XXI,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  1-4;  Castle,  First 
Mansion,  chap,  ii ;  Seventh  Mansion,  chap.  i. 

8  Life,  chap,  xxxii,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  1-4.  She  was  then  raised  to  the 
mystical  kinds  of  prayer.  Her  description  of  hell  reminds  us  of  the 
oubliettes  in  the  fortified  castles  of  the  time.  In  visions,  God  makes 
use  of  images  which  are  already  in  the  imagination  of  the  saints. 


Saint  XTcresa  133 

of  the  most  cruel  that  can  be  endured  on  earth,  for  all  my 
nerves  contracted  when  I  became  a  cripple,  not  to  speak  of 
other  torments  of  various  kinds,  some  of  which,  as  I  have 
said,  were  instigated  by  the  devil.  Well,  all  that  is  as 
nothing-  compared  with  what  I  experienced  there,  and,  as  I 
understood,  these  tortures  would  be  endless  and  uninter- 
rupted. I  repeat  it,  all  that  was  as  nothing  compared  with 
the  spiritual  agony.  It  is  an  anguish,  an  oppression,  a  pain 
so  poignant,  united  with  such  bitter  and  desperate  desolation, 
that  I  give  up  any  attempt  to  describe  them.  To  say  that 
your  soul  is  being  torn  out  of  you  at  every  moment  is  but 
little,  for  then  it  is  another  who  is  taking  your  life,  while 
here  it  is  the  soul  that  is  rending  itself.  No,  I  cannot  tell 
how  to  depict  this  interior  fire,  this  despair  added  to  such 
cruel  torments  and  such  atrocious  pains  !  I  could  not  see 
who  was  inflicting  them  on  me,  and  yet  I  felt  that  I  was 
burning  and  being  hacked  into  a  thousand  pieces.   .  .  . 

"  In  this  pestilential  place,  from  which  the  least  hope  of 
relief  is  for  ever  banished,  there  is  not  any  way  of  sitting  or 
of  lying  down.  There  is  no  room  in  the  sort  of  hole  made  in 
the  wall,  for  in  it  the  very  sides  are  horrible  to  see  and 
appear  to  crush  you  with  their  weight.  One  is  stifled  in 
every  way.  There  is  no  light,  and  nought  but  deep  darkness, 
and  yet,  inexplicable  as  it  is,  in  this  absence  of  light  you  can 
perceive  everything  which  can  offend  your  sight." 

Teresa  declares  that  her  "  dread  was  unutterable."  Six 
years  later  when  she  described  her  vision,  about  1565,  her 
terror  was  still  so  lively  that  her  blood  froze  in  her  veins. 

"  The  way  of  fear  is  not  that  which  befits  my  soul,"  she 
adds.  We  know,  indeed,  that  God  led  her  especially  by  love. 
However,  fear  acted  strongly  upon  her  at  the  time  of  her 
conversion.  "  I  told  myself  with  alarm  that  death  would  have 
found  me  on  the  road  to  hell."  It  was  also  rather  fear  than 
love  that  drove  her  to  the  cloister.1 

In  the  work  of  the  purification  of  her  soul,  Teresa  ex- 
perienced, like  everyone  else,  the  salutary  fear  of  the  judge- 
ment of  God.  Must  one  not  generally  pass  by  this  way  to 
reach  the  way  of  love? 

Before  joining  the  Carmelites  of  the  Incarnation  of  Avila, 
Teresa  had  already  made  her  way  by  prayer  into  the  First 
Mansion  of  the  Castle  of  the  soul.  "  My  experience  of  this 
First  Mansion,"  she  says,  "  will  enable  me  to  speak  of  it  from 
full  knowledge."2  She  will  tell  us  how,  for  more  than 
eighteen  years,  she  used  to  pray  with  difficulty,  and  how  she 
gave  it  up  and  took  to  it  again.  Before  being  finally  admitted 
into  the  mystical  mansions  of  the  castle  she  dwelt  long  in 
the  first  rooms. 

1  Life,  chap.  iii.  *  Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap.  ii. 


134  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

B — First   Degree   of  Prayer  or   Ordinary   Prayer — 

Meditation.1 

St  Teresa's  celebrated  comparison  for  expressing-  the  effects 
of  prayer  and  for  marking-  its  different  degrees  is  well  known. 

"  He  who  begins  to  pray,"  she  says,  "  must  imagine  that 
he  is  undertaking  to  turn  an  altogether  uncultivated  piece  of 
ground  covered  with  weeds  into  a  pleasure  garden  for  our 
Lord.  It  is  our  divine  Master  himself  who  uproots  the  bad 
weeds  and  plants  the  good  flowers,  and  we  think  that  all  is 
done  when  we  have  resolved  to  give  ourselves  to  prayer,  and 
that  we  are  already  busy  in  it.  Our  task,  as  g-ood  gardeners, 
is  to  work  with  God's  help  in  cultivating  and  watering  the 
plants  to  keep  them  from  dying  and  to  make  them  yield 
fragrant  flowers  for  the  enjoyment  of  our  good  Master.  Then 
he  will  often  come  into  our  garden  for  refreshment  and  take 
pleasure  in  seeing  virtues  bloom  therein. 

"  Now  let  us  see  how  we  can  water  it,  so  as  to  know  well 
what  we  have  to  do,  what  the  work  will  cost  us  if  the  gain 
is  to  exceed  the  trouble,  and  lastly,  how  long  our  toil  must 
g-o  on. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  there  are  four  ways  of  watering  a 
g-arden.  First  of  all,  we  may  laboriously  draw  the  water 
from  a  well.  We  may  also  make  use  of  a  noria  and  buckets 
set  in  motion  by  a  winch.  .  .  .  We  may  also  bring  the 
water  from  a  river  or  stream  :  the  watering  is  then  more 
thorough,  the  earth  drinks  in  the  water  more  deeply  and  it  is 
not  necessary  to  water  it  so  frequently,  and  the  gardener  is 
far  from  having  the  same  amount  of  fatigue.  Lastly,  there 
is  plenty  of  rain,  and  this  is  incomparably  the  best  way,  the 
Lord  thus  doing  the  watering-  himself,  without  any  toil  on 
our  part. 

"  And  now  I  intend  to  apply  to  my  subject  these  four  ways 
of  distributing  the  water  needed  by  a  garden  for  its  mainten- 
ance, and  without  which  it  would  die.  Thus,  I  think,  I  shall 
be  able  to  give  some  idea  of  the  four  degrees  of  prayer  to 
which  the  Lord,  in  his  mercy,  has  sometimes  raised  my 
soul."2 

1  Life,  chap,  xi-xiii ;  Castle,  First,  Second,  and  Third  Mansions; 
Way  of  Perfection,  chaps,  xvi-xxviii.  The  comparison  of  the  soul  to  a 
garden  is  found  in  Spanish  mystics  prior  to  St  Teresa ;  in  particular, 
in  the  Tercer  Abecedario  (TV,  3)  of  Francisco  of  Ossuna.  St  Teresa 
says,  indeed  :  "  Here  is  a  comparison  which  I  think  I  have  read  or 
heard  somewhere"  (CEuvres,  I,  p.   117). 

2-  Life,  chap,  xi,  (Euvres,  I,  pp.  147-148.  The  first  degree  of  prayer 
is  meditation  ;  the  three  others  are  kinds  of  mystical  prayer.  St  Teresa 
wrote  this  about  1565.  In  1577,  when  she  wrote  the  Interior  Castle,  she 
had  attained  the  summits  of  mysticism.  In  it  she  reckons  that  there 
are  four  kinds  of  mystical  prayer,  one  more  than  in  the  Life.  Cf.  R. 
Hoornaert,  Le  frogres  de  la  fensie  de  sainte  Tirese  entre  la  "  Vie  "  el 


Saint  Zevesa  135 

The  first  degree  of  prayer,  that  of  the  "  beg-inners,"  is 
meditation.  It  is  marked  with  effort.  Those  who  beg-in  to 
pray  "  draw  water  from  the  well  "  by  hand  labour,  "  and 
hard  toil  it  is."  In  mystical  prayer  of  various  kinds  there 
is  much  less  effort  and  sometimes  none  at  all. 

St  Teresa  knew  eig-hteen  years  of  this  toil  of  meditation, 
and  describes  it  in  detail.1  The  beg-inner  must  first  of  all 
g-ather  tog-ether  his  "  senses  which  have  been  accustomed  to 
g-et  scattered  abroad."2  "  We  meet  with  those  who  are  so 
used  to  live  amidst  thing's  external  that  there  is  no  way  of 
disentang"ling-  them  from  them  :  they  appear  to  be  powerless 
to  withdraw  into  themselves."  Yet  they  must  become  recol- 
lected for  prayer.  Later  on,  if  they  persevere,  recollection 
will  come  without  effort.3 

"  To  draw  water  from  the  well  ...  is  to  work  with  the 
understanding-,"  for  this  first  degree  of  prayer  is  meditation 
and  consideration.  Reflection  may  be  difficult.  Sometimes 
we  experience  nothing-  but  "  dryness,  boredom,  and  repug-- 
nance."  Distractions  supervene,  and  there  is  no  consolation. 
Prayer  must  not  be  g-iven  up  whatever  be  the  obstacles  we 
encounter.  "  He  (the  g-ardener)  must  look  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  master,  and  not  to  his  own.  .  .  .  Let  us  do  what  we 
can."  God  will  repay  us  "  for  the  arduous  toil  of  lowering- 
the  bucket  so  often  to  draw  it  up  empty."4 

Teresa  knows  these  troubles  from  her  own  experience. 
She  has  endured  them  year  after  year,  so  as  to  think  herself 
fortunate  when  she  has  succeeded  "  in  g-etting-  but  a  sing-le 
drop  of  water  from  the  blessed  well."5  God  has  not  g-iven 
her  "  the  talent  of  discursive  understanding-,"  nor  that  "  of 
employing-  her  imag-ination  profitably."  She  dared  not  pray 
without  a  book,  which  she  used  asa  "  buckler,"  to  ward  off 
the  "  assaults  of  intrusive  thoug-hts. "  If  she  had  no  book 
immediately  her  mind  went  all  astray."6 

Reflections  and  the  exercise  of  the  understanding-  are  ex- 
cellent thing's  in  prayer;  acts  of  love,  silent  prayer,  and 
union  with  Jesus  are  better  still. 

"  It  is  a  g-ood  thing-,"  says  Teresa,  "  to  reason  discursively 

le  "  Cndteau,"  in  the  Revue  des  sciences  fhilosophiques  et  thiologiques, 
January,  1924,  pp.  20  ff. 

1  Life,  chap.  iv.  2  id.,  chap.  xi. 

3  Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap,  i;  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxviii. 

4  Life,  chap,  xi,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  150.     Cf.  Castle,  Second  Mansion. 

5  id.,  chap,  xi,  p.  151.  Cf.  Relation  LIII,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  277  : 
"  She  (Teresa)  thus  spent  nearly  twenty-eight  years  amidst  great 
aridities."  Life,  chap,  viii  (I,  p.  122)  :  "  Very  often — and  it  went  on 
for  years — I  was  more  filled  with  wishing  for  the  end  of  the  time  I  had 
decided  to  give  to  prayer,  more  eager  for  the  striking  of  the  clock, 
than  for  pious  considerations." 

6  id.,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  74. 


136  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

for  some  time,  to  fathom  the  sorrows  endured  by  our  Lord 
.  .  .  and  his  purpose  in  embracing-  them,  to  think  of  the  great- 
ness of  him  who  suffered  and  of  the  love  wherewith  his 
sufferings  were  accompanied.  But  we  must  not  tire  ourselves 
out  unremittingly  in  exhausting  our  subject ;  we  must  also 
keep  close  to  our  Lord  in  the  silence  of  our  understanding. 
We  must  try  to  permeate  our  mind  with  the  idea  that  he  is 
looking  at  us ;  we  are  in  his  company,  we  are  speaking  to 
him,  we  shall  make  our  requests  to  him ;  we  shall  fling 
ourselves  down  at  his  feet,  we  shall  find  joy  in  him,  and 
recognize  how  unworthy  we  are  to  dwell  in  his  presence. 
If  we  can  reach  this  point,  even  at  the  beginning  of  our 
prayer,  we  shall  greatly  profit  thereby,  for  this  way  of  prayer 
is  one  of  the  most  useful ;  at  least  it  has  been  so  with  my 
own  soul.1  .  .  .  Mental  prayer  is  nothing  but  an  intimate 
friendship,  a  frequent  converse,  heart  to  heart,  with  him 
whom  we  know  to  be  our  lover."2 

Here  Teresa  is  describing  what  has  since  been  called 
affective  prayer,3  in  which  prayer  and  loving  impulse  exceed 
the  part  played  by  reasoning.  St  Teresa  recommends  two 
forms  of  it  :  the  simple  look  of  affection  and  interior  recol- 
lection (active  recollection),  for  the  soul  has  sometimes  to 
strive  hard  to  withdraw  within  itself.  St  Teresa  thus  des- 
cribes this  kind  of  recollection  in  the  Way  of  Perfection. 

"  In  seeking  (for  God)  the  soul  needs  not  to  take  wings, 
it  has  only  to  go  into  solitude,  to  look  within  and  not  to 
depart  from  such  an  excellent  guest.  Let  it  speak  to  him 
as  it  would  speak  to  a  father.  As  to  a  father,  too,  let  it 
address  its  demands  to  him,  tell  him  of  its  troubles,  and  beg 
him  to  remedy  them.  .  .  . 

"  This  way  of  praying,  though  vocal,  causes  the  mind  to 
become  much  more  rapidly  recollected.  It  is  a  kind  of  prayer 
which  possesses  many  advantages.  It  is  called  the  prayer 
of  recollection,  because  the  soul  therein  gathers  together  all 
its  powers  and  withdraws  within  itself  with  its  God.  By  this 
way  more  than  by  any  other  its  divine  Master  will  teach  it 
and  give  it  the  way  of  quiet.  Hidden  in  itself,  it  can  think 
of  the  Passion,  represent  to  itself  the  Son  of  God,  and  offer 
him  to  the  Father  without  having  to  weary  the  mind  by 
going  to  look  for  him  at  Calvary  or  in  the  Garden  or  at  the 
Column. 

1  Life,  chap,  xiii,  CEnvres,  I,  p.  178.  Chap,  iv  :  "  I  did  all  I  could 
to  consider  continuously  Jesus  Christ,  our  Master,  present  within  me  : 
that  was  my  way  of  prayer.  If  I  meditated  on  the  mystery,  I  repre- 
sented it  to  myself  within,  but  I  specially  applied  myself  to  reading 
good  books."     CEuvres,  I,  72.     Cf.  chap.  ix. 

2  id.,  chap,  viii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  120. 

3  Also  called  Acquired  Contemplation.  See  Conclusions  of  the 
Teresian  Congress  of  1922,  Theme  IV,  7  ;  Mensajero  de  Santa  Teresa, 
March  15,   1923;  Etudes   Carmelitaines,  January-July,   1924. 


Saint  TTeresa  137 

"  Those  who  can  thus  enclose  themselves  in  the  little 
heaven  of  the  soul  where  its  Creator  dwells  as  much  as  on 
earth,  who  practise  control  of  their  sight  and  praying  in  a 
place  where  nothing-  can  distract  their  outward  senses,  must 
believe  that  they  are  in  an  excellent  way  and  that  they  will 
succeed  in  quenching-  their  thirst  at  the  fountain.  And  they 
will  really  make  much  progress  in  a  short  time."1 

Such  was  Teresa's  prayer  during  her  noviciate  and  the  first 
years  of  her  religious  profession  :  meditation  with  the  help  of 
a  book,  struggling  against  distractions,  and  affective  recol- 
lection of  a  more  or  less  laborious  nature.  She  was  "  con- 
verted "  by  such  prayer.  And  with  what  eloquence  does 
she  recommend  it  to  all  who  would  truly  serve  God  and 
attain  salvation  !2 


Sufferings,  too,  helped  Teresa  to  advance  in  sanctity. 
During  the  winter  of  1 537-1538,  the  saint  had  a  terrible  ill- 
ness. She  had  an  alarming  nervous  crisis.  She  felt  at 
intervals  that  "  sharp  teeth  were  biting  deep  into  her  heart. 
They  thought  at  last  that  it  must  be  madness."  She  was 
tortured  from  head  to  foot.  "  Doctors  declare,"  she  says, 
"  that  nerve  pains  are  intolerable,  and  as  my  nerves  were  all 
contracted,  I  suffered  a  cruel  martyrdom."  She  became 
crippled;  her  "  contracted  limbs  were  gathered  into  a  ball." 
And  it  was  in  this  state  that,  after  two  years  absence,  she 
was  sent  back  to  the  convent  of  Avila.  Her  paralysis  lasted 
three  years. 

These  sufferings  courageously  endured  united  her  soul 
closely  with  God.  Teresa  was  raised  "  rapidly  and  tran- 
sitorily "  to  the  prayer  of  quiet  and  even  to  that  of  union.3 
This  state  of  prayer  lasted  but  a  short  time,  hardly  for  an 
Ave  Maria,  but  it  wrought  great  results  in  her  soul.  It 
taught  Teresa  "  what  loving  God  means."  She  felt  a  deep 
contempt  for  the  world.  Evil-speaking  she  held  in  horror. 
She  carefully  avoided  the  occasions  of  sin.  Spiritual  reading 
became  her  delight,  and  occasions  for  speaking  of  God  were 
most  pleasing  to  her.* 

Teresa  obtained  her  cure  through  the  intercession  of  St 
Joseph.  In  her  gratitude  she  exalted  the  holy  patriarch's 
power  of  intercession  in  justly  celebrated  pages  which  did 
much  to  enhance  his  cultus  amongst  the  faithful.  "  I  want," 
she  says,  "  to  lead  everyone  to  devotion  to  this  glorious  saint, 
so  greatly  have  I  experienced  his  influence  with  God.   .  .   . 

1  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  203-204. 

2  St  Teresa  treats  of  this  quasi-indispensability  of  prayer  in  her 
Life,  chaps,  viii,  xix ;  Way  of  Perfection,  chaps,  xx-xxiii ;  Interior 
Castle,  Second  Mansion. 

8  Life,  chap,  iv,  x.  *  id.,  chap,  vi,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  89. 


138  Cbristian  Spirituality 

So  far  I  cannot  remember   having-  asked   him  for  anything 
without  his  having  given  it  me."' 


»»i 


The  soul  of  Teresa,  visibly  called  to  the  enjoyment  of 
intimacy  with  God,  ought  apparently  to  have  risen  henceforth 
unchecked  to  the  highest  peaks  of  mysticism.  Unfortunately, 
whatever  be  the  degree  of  a  soul's  spiritual  life,  deterioration 
and  even  downright  falls  are  yet  possible. 

The  monastery  of  Avila,  according-  to  the  custom  of  the 
times,  was  not  then  strictly  enclosed.  The  nuns  might  receive 
and  even  pay  visits.  Teresa  was  cured,  and,  in  the  intoxica- 
tion of  recovered  health,  resumed  her  external  relationships. 
Soon,  the  consequence  was  a  frivolous  and  relaxed  manner 
of  life.  She  gave  up  prayer.  "  Having  regard  to  my  aberra- 
tions," she  says,  "  I  began  to  fear  to  return  to  prayer."  She 
was  afraid  of  entering  into  such  intimate  communion  with 
God  in  the  state  of  tepidity  in  which  she  found  herself.2  She 
resumed  prayer  only  after  her  father's  death  in  1544  on  the 
advice  of  the  Dominican  Vincent  Baron  ;  she  was  twenty-nine. 
Then  followed  a  kind  of  struggle  between  her  and  God. 

"On  the  one  hand,"  she  says,  "God  called  me;  on  the 
other,  I  followed  the  world.  I  found  much  joy  in  the  things 
of  God,  and  the  things  of  this  world  held  me  captive.  I 
wanted,  apparently,  to  unite  these  two  contraries,  so  opposed 
to  one  another  :  on  the  one  hand  the  spiritual  life  and  its 
consolations,  on  the  other  the  diversions  and  the  pleasures  of 
the  senses."3 

But  in  this  combat  God  was  to  be  the  winner.  He  would 
have  Teresa  for  himself,  he  intended  to  give  her  exceptional 
favours. 

Teresa  attributes  her  final  conversion  to  mental  prayer,  the 
immense  gains  of  which  she  extols  in  lyrical4  language.  But 
this  long  period  of  relaxation  and  lukewarmness,  following 
upon  years  of  spiritual  progress,  filled  her  with  deep  humility. 
The  uncertainty  of  this  life  with  regard  to  perseverance 
filled  her  with  a  kind  of  alarm.  Later  on,  she  told  her  sisters 
to  cling  to  a  salutary  fear  and  always  to  be  on  the  watch. 

"  Do  not  trust  to  the  enclosure  nor  to  the  austerity  of 
your  life,"  she  said,  thinking-  of  herself,  "  and  do  not  rely 
upon  your  constant  occupation  with  the  things  of  God,  nor 
upon  your  continual  exercises  of  prayer,  nor  upon  your  sep- 
aration from  the  things  of  this  world,  nor  upon  the  horror  you 
may  seem  to  have  of  them.  All  that  is  g-ood  ;  but,  as  I  have 
said,  it  is  not  enough  to  take  away  from  us  every  reason  for 
fear.  Therefore,  repeat  this  text  and  call  it  often  to  mind  : 
Beatus  vir  qui  timet  Dominium."5 


1  Life,  chap,  vi,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  92-93.  2  id.,  chaps,  vii,  xix. 

id.,  chap,  vii,   CEuvres,  I,  p.   m.  4  id.,  chap.  viii. 

6  Interior  Castle,  Third  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  79. 


3 


Saint  XTeresa  139 

III— KINDS   OF   MYSTICAL  PRAYER   ACCORDING 

TO  ST  TERESA 

About  the  age  of  forty-three,  Teresa  entered  into  the  mystical 
mansions  of  the  castle  of  the  soul.  During-  her  great  illness, 
she  had  formerly  been  introduced  into  them  in  a  transitory 
fashion,  and  then  she  had  returned  for  some  time  to  the 
First  Mansion.  Henceforward  she  was  to  receive  super- 
natural favours  uninterruptedly. 

She  distinguishes  them  thus  from  what  she  had  experienced 
in  the  First  Mansion  : 

"  Before  this  I  had  felt,  somehow  continuously,  a  tender- 
ness of  devotion,  which  is,  I  believe,  the  result  of  our  effort. 
It  is  a  feeling-  of  consolation  which  is  neither  entirely  sensible 
nor  entirely  spiritual.  It  is  clear  that  we  receive  all  from 
God.  In  this,  however,  we  can,  I  think,  help  ourselves  much, 
either  by  considering-  our  lowness  and  ingratitude  ...  or  by 
rejoicing  in  the  works  of  the  Lord.  ...  If  thereto  is  added 
a  little  love,  the  soul  expands,  the  heart  is  touched,  and  tears 
flow."1 

These  loving  impulses  are  a  reward  for  our  goodwill. 
When  we  draw  water  with  manual  labour  from  the  spiritual 
well  our  soul  is  sweetly  watered  therewith. 

But  in  the  other  degrees  of  prayer,  the  soul  "  touches  the 
supernatural.  In  fact,  whatever  be  its  effort,  it  cannot  obtain 
of  itself  that  with  which  we  now  have  to  do."2 

A — Is  Everyone  called  to  the  Mystical  Kinds  of  Prayer? 
— The  Special  Need  of  Direction  for  Mystics 

Does  God  call  all  souls  of  goodwill  to  the  mystical  kinds 
of  prayer? 

To  this  question  St  Teresa  seems  to  make  a  hesitating 
reply.     In  her  Life  we  find  nothing  definite  about  it. 

When  she  teaches  her  religious  about  prayer  in  the  Way 

1  Life,  chap,  x,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  135.  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  i  : 
"  We  may,  apparently,  call  consolations  the  feelings  of  happiness 
obtained  by  means  of  meditation  and  prayers  addressed  to  our  Lord. 
These  consolations  .  .  .  therefore  arise  from  the  laudable  act  which  we 
fulfil,  they  are  in  some  sort  the  effect  of  our  work."  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  98. 
See  chap,  ii,  pp.  107  ff. 

2  Life,  chap,  xiv,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  179.  Cf.  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion, 
chap,  ii  :  "  To  understand  this  well,  let  us  imagine  that  we  are  look- 
ing at  two  springs  filling  two  basins  with  water.  .  .  .  These  two 
basins  are  filling  in  different  ways  :  one  receives  its  water  from  a 
distance  through  long  pipes  and  by  artificial  means ;  the  other  is  built 
close  to  the  spring  and  fills  noiselessly.  .  .  .  The  water  laid  on  by  a 
pipe  represents  the  consolations  acquired  by  meditation.  We  bring 
them,  indeed,  by  our  reflections  on  created  things  and  by  a  troublesome 
effort  of  the  understanding.  ...  In  the  other  basin,  the  water  issues 
from  the  same  spring,  which  is  God."  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.   108-109. 


ho  Cbristian  Spirituality 

of  Perfection,  she  declares  that  the  gift  of  contemplation  is 
not  intended  for  all. 

"  How,  if  we  are  humble,"  she  says,  "can  we  ever  per- 
suade ourselves  that  we  are  virtuous  enough  to  be  among 
the  contemplatives?  That  God  can  make  us  such  is  certain  ; 
he  can  do  so  in  his  goodness  and  mercy.  But  if  people 
will  follow  mv  advice  they  will  always  take  their  seats  in  the 
lowest  place,  according  to  the  counsel  and  example  of  our 
Lord.  Then  we  must  be  prepared  in  case  it  be  God's  good 
pleasure  to  lead  us  by  the  way  of  contemplation.  If  he  does 
not  do  so  let  us  have  recourse  to  humility.  Let  us  think  our- 
selves happy  to  serve  the  servants  of  God.  .  .  . 

"It  is  not  without  good  cause  that  I  speak  thus  :  for — I 
repeat  it  and  it  is  most  important  to  understand  this — God 
does  not  lead  souls  by  the  same  road.  Whoever  thinks  that 
he  is  walking  by  the  lowest  way  is  perhaps  the  highest  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord.  Thus,  because  in  this  monastery  all 
give  themselves  up  to  prayer,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  must 
be  contemplatives.  It  is  impossible,  and  not  to  know  this 
truth  might  cast  into  desolation  those  who  are  not  at  all  so. 
Contemplation  is  a  gift  of  God.  Since  it  is  not  necessary  for 
salvation  and  God  does  not  demand  it,  none  of  you  should 
imagine  that  he  will  require  it  of  her.  A  soul  will  not  fail  to 
be  very  perfect  provided  that  she  fulfils  what  we  have  said. 
She  may  even  have  much  greater  merit,  because  she  will 
work  the  more  at  her  own  cost.  The  Lord  is  leading  her  as 
a  strong  soul,  and  holds  in  reserve  for  her  to  be  given  all 
together  all  the  consolations  that  she  has  not  enjoyed  in  this 
world.  Therefore,  let  her  not  be  discouraged.  Let  her  not 
give  up  prayer,  and  go  on  doing  what  the  others  are 
doing.   .    .   . 

"  Let  the  master  of  the  house  have  his  way.  He  is  wise  and 
powerful  and  knows  what  befits  you,  and  also  what  befits 
himself.  If  you  do  what  you  can  and  prepare  yourself  for 
contemplation  by  the  perfect  life  we  have  shown  you,  and 
then  find  this  gift  denied  you — and  yet  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  you  will  receive  it  if  your  detachment  and  humility 
are  real — be  sure  that  our  Lord  is  keeping  this  joy  for  you 
to  add  to  all  those  that  await  you  in  heaven."1 

A  little  further  on,  in  chapter  xix,  St  Teresa  appears  to 
contradict  herself.  After  comparing  contemplation  with  a 
fountain  of  living  water,  she  adds  : 

"Think  that  the  Lord  invites  everyone.  He  is  the  very 
Truth,  therefore  the  thing  is  beyond  doubt.  If  the  feast 
were  not  general,  he  would  not  call  us  all,  or  when  calling 
us  he  would  not  say  :   I  will  give  you  to  drink.     He  would 

1  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xvii,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  132-133,  136.  Cf. 
chap,  xviii. 


Saint  XTeresa  hi 

say:  Come  all  of  you,  you  will  lose  nothing-  by  it;  and  I 
will  give  to  drink  unto  whom  I  think  good.  But  he  says 
without  restriction  :  Come  all  of  you ;  and  thus  I  hold  it  sure 
that  all  those  who  do  not  stop  on  the  way  will  receive  this 
living  water."1 

The  saint  is  conscious  of  this  apparent  contradiction,  for 
she  writes  at  the  beginning  of  chapter  xx  : 

"  There  is  apparently  a  contradiction  between  what  I  have 
just  said  in  the  preceding  chapter  and  what  I  said  farther 
back  when,  wishing  to  console  those  who  do  not  attain  to 
contemplation,  I  showed  that  there  are  different  ways  of 
going  to  God,  as  there  are  different  mansions  in  heaven. 
And,  nevertheless,  I  maintain  what  I  have  said."2 

If  we  now  open  the  Book  of  the  Mansions — i.e.,  The 
Interior  Castle — we  again  find  the  saint  advising  her  sisters 
not  to  seek  for  the  mystical  kinds  of  prayer.  "  The  Book  of 
the  Mansions  is  the  last  and  most  finished  of  St  Teresa's 
works,  and  it  represents  the  experience  of  her  whole  life, 
and,  therefore,  we  rightly  look  to  it  for  the  last  word  she  has 
to  say  about  the  interior  ways  and  the  mystical  states."3 
Now  this  is  what  she  has  to  say  of  the  spiritual  tastes  or  the 
supernatural  prayer  of  quiet : 

"  You  want  to  acquire  this  kind  of  prayer  directly,  my 
daughters,  and  for  good  reasons,  for,  once  more,  the  soul 
cannot  comprehend  the  graces  which  are  then  received  from 
God  and  the  love  with  which  he  comes  to  it.  There  can  be 
nothing  more  legitimate  than  to  desire  to  know  how  to 
obtain  such  a  favour.  Therefore  I  will  tell  you  what  I  have 
learnt  about  it.  Let  us  put  aside  the  case  in  which  the  Lord 
is  pleased  to  grant  it  merely  because  he  thinks  well  to  do  so. 
He  knows  the  reason,  and  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

"  First,  do  what  was  counselled  to  the  dwellers  in  the 
former  mansions,  and  then — humility,  humility  !  It  is  thereby 
that  the  Lord  yields  to  all  our  desires.  And  would  you  know 
whether  you  possess  this  virtue?  First  of  all  see  whether 
you  think  yourselves  unworthy  of  these  graces  and  divine 
tastes,  and  whether  you  are  convinced  that  they  will  never 
be  granted  you  in  this  life.  You  will  say  to  me  :  But  how 
are  we  to  obtain  them  if  we  do  nothing  towards  it?  I  reply 
that  the  best  way  is  the  one  I  have  just  pointed  out — that  is 
to  say,  to  do  nothing  to  get  them." 

And  St  Teresa  gives  several  reasons  for  this. 

"  The  first  is,  that  to  obtain  these  graces,  nothing  is  more 
necessary  than  to  love  God  disinterestedly.  The  second  is, 
that  there  is  a  slight  want  of  humility  in  thinking  we  can 
obtain  so  great  a  good  by  such  poor  services  as  ours.     The 

1  (Euvres,  V,  pp.  156-157.  *  ibid.,  p.  158. 

3  ibid.,  VI,  p.  29,  Introduction  au  Chateau  interieur. 


H2  Cbristian  Spirituality 

third  is,  that  the  true  disposition  for  us  who,  after  all,  have 
offended  our  Lord,  is  not  to  aspire  to  receive  consolations, 
but  to  desire  to  suffer  and  to  make  ourselves  like  him.  The 
fourth  is,  that  his  Majesty  has  not  bound  himself  to  give  us 
these  spiritual  tastes  as  he  has  bound  himself  to  give  us 
beatitude  if  we  keep  his  commandments.  We  can  be  saved 
without  them,  and  he  knows  best  what  befits  us  and  who  are 
those  who  love  him  in  reality.  There  is  one  thing  certain, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  about  it,  that  there  are  people — and  I 
know  some  of  them — who  walk  in  the  way  of  love  as  we 
ought  to  walk  in  it,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  sole  desire  of 
serving  Jesus  crucified,  and  who  not  only  do  not  ask  him  for 
spiritual  tastes  and  do  not  desire  to  have  them,  but  even 
implore  him  not  to  give  them  any  in  this  life.  This  is  mere 
truth. 

"  The  fifth  reason  is,  that  it  means  tormenting  ourselves  in 
sheer  waste.  As  this  water  is  not  brought  through  pipes 
like  the  former  water,  if  the  spring  will  not  give  it  we  shall 
tire  ourselves  out  in  vain.  I  mean  that  we  shall  multiply 
our  meditations  to  no  purpose  and  strain  our  hearts  and  shed 
our  tears,  it  will  be  all  useless.  That  is  not  at  all  the  way 
in  which  this  water  comes.  God  gives  it  to  whom  he  will, 
and  he  often  does  it  at  the  moment  when  the  soul  is  thinking 
of  it  least.  We  are  his,  my  sisters  :  let  him  do  what  he  will 
with  us;  let  him  lead  us  by  the  path  that  pleases  him."1 

After  this  it  is  surprising  to  find  Teresa  saying  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Fifth  Mansion  : 

"  All  of  us  who  wear  the  holy  habit  of  Mount  Carmel  are 
called  to  prayer  and  contemplation  :  there  is  the  place  of  our 
first  institution,  we  belong  to  the  race  of  the  holy  Fathers 
of  Mount  Carmel  who,  in  such  deep  solitude  and  in  such 
entire  contempt  of  the  world,  sought  for  the  treasure,  the 
precious  pearl  of  which  we  are  speaking.  And  nevertheless, 
I  declare  to  you  that  very  few  among  us  prepare  themselves 
to  see  the  Saviour  reveal  it  to  them."2 

Lastly,  a  few  pages  further  on,  St  Teresa  appears  to  say 
that  we  may  reach  the  prayer  of  union  by  two  ways.  One 
of  these  ways  is  mystical  and  supernatural,  and  it  is  only 
followed  by  the  few  who  are  called  to  extraordinary  states. 
The  other  is  not  mystical,  but  is  accessible  to  all  who  re- 
nounce "  their  own  wills  to  cleave  to  God's."3 


1  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  m-113. 

-  ibid.,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  128. 

3  ibid.,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  150-151  :  "  According  to  all  that 
I  have  said,  this  [Fifth]  Mansion  has  still,  I  think,  a  certain  amount 
of  darkness.  But  since  it  is  so  good  for  us  to  enter  it,  it  will  be  well 
not  to  take  away  the  hope  of  it  from  those  whom  the  Lord  does  not 
gratify  with  such  supernatural  favours.  Real  union,  indeed,  may  be 
quite  well  obtained  with  our  Lord's  help,  if  we  try  to  acquire  it  by 
renouncing  our  own  will  to  cleave  to  the  will  of  God." 


Saint  ZTcresa  143 

St  Teresa's  thought  remains  indefinite.     From  it  we  can 
apparently  draw  no  really  sure  conclusion. 


Before  reaching-  the  mystical  states  great  sufferings  must 
be  undergone.  Teresa  knew  them  by  experience.  She  de- 
scribes them  at  considerable  length  in  the  Interior  Castle. 
She  points  them  out  merely  for  her  nuns  in  the  Way  of 
Perfection,  encouraging  those  who  may  experience  them. 

"  I  tell  you,  my  daughters,  whom  God  does  not  lead  by 
the  path  of  contemplation,  that  those  who  walk  by  that  way 
have  to  bear  a  cross  no  lighter  than  yours.  This  is  what  I 
have  seen  and  known.  You  would,  indeed,  be  surprised  if 
you  knew  the  crosses  which  God  makes  them  bear.  I  am 
well  acquainted  with  what  concerns  them  both.  Well,  I  see 
quite  clearly  that  the  sufferings  God  sends  to  contemplatives 
are  intolerable.  They  are  so  great  that  did  he  not  sustain 
them  with  the  heavenly  tastes,  they  could  not  hold  fast.  And 
that  is  easy  to  understand  :  God  leads  by  the  way  of  suffer- 
ing those  whom  he  specially  loves,  and  the  more  he  loves 
them,  the  greater  are  their  sufferings."1 

Certain  of  these  sufferings  sometimes  arise — as  Teresa 
knew  by  her  own  experience — from  the  confessor's  lack  of 
experience.  Those  whom  God  leads  by  extraordinary  ways 
need  directors  who  have  knowledge  personally,  if  possible, 
of  the  mystical  states,  or  have  at  any  rate  studied  them  in 
books.  The  contemplative  cannot  do  without  direction.  If 
his  confessor  is  an  ignorant  man  he  will  make  very  regrettable 
mistakes  and  subject  his  penitents  to  painful  anguish.2 

B — The  Different  Kinds  of  Mystical  Prayer 

In  the  writings  of  St  Teresa  we  find  two  different  classes  of 
mystical  prayer. 

According  to  her  Life,  written  from  1563  to  1565,  the  extra- 
ordinary kinds  of  prayer  are  :  the  prayer  of  recollection,  the 
prayer  of  quiet,  the  prayer  of  the  sleep  of  the  poivers,  the 
prayer  of  union  and  ecstasy.  Spiritual  Relation  LIV  gives 
a  similar  classification. 

In  1577,  in  the  Interior  Castle,  St  Teresa  says  nothing  of 
the  prayer  of  the  sleep  of  the  powers,  but  she  adds  the 
spiritual  marriage,  the  highest  degree  of  mystical  prayer,  of 
which  she  was  ignorant  when  she  wrote  the  Life.  The  saint's 
final  idea  of  the  classification  of  mystical  prayer  is  therefore 
this  :  prayer  of  recollection,  prayer  of  quiet,  prayer  of  union 
with  or  without  ecstasy,   and  the  spiritual  marriage.     This 

1  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xviii,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.   138-139. 

2  ibid.,  chaps,  iv-v.  Cf.  Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI, 
P-  *53- 


H4  Gbristian  Spirituality 

classification  is  considered  by  theologians  as  more  exact  than 
the  first.  It  denotes  a  real  advance  in  Teresa's  thought.1  I 
shall  follow  it  giving  all  the  variations  of  the  Life,  the  Way  of 
Perfection,  and  of  Relation  LIV. 

i.  Prayer  of  Recollection2 

We  note  that  Teresa  feels  her  way  to  some  extent  with 
regard  to  this  kind  of  prayer. 

In  the  Life  she  makes  it  a  supernatural  prayer,  which  is 
indistinguishable  from  the  prayer  of  quiet:  "Here,"  she 
says,  "  the  soul  begins  to  enter  into  recollection  :  it  touches 
the  supernatural."  By  its  own  efforts  it  cannot  reach  this 
second  degree  of  prayer,  which  "  corresponds  with  the  second 
way  instituted  by  the  Master  of  the  garden  for  obtaining 
water.  By  means  of  a  wheel  and  buckets  the  gardener  gets 
a  larger  quantity  of  it  with  less  fatigue,  and  he  is  no  longer 
forced  to  give  himself  up  to  unceasing  labour.  To  apply  this 
second  mode  of  watering  to  the  prayer  called  that  of  quiet, 
such  is  the  aim  I  have  now  in  view.3 

The  Way  of  Perfection,*  on  the  other  hand,  clearly  dis- 
tinguishes the  prayer  of  recollection  from  the  prayer  of  quiet, 
but  it  is  no  longer  a  supernatural  prayer;  it  is  the  prayer  of 
active  recollection  described  higher  up. 

Lastly,  in  the  Interior  Castle  and  in  Relation  LIV  St 
Teresa  separates  the  prayer  of  recollection  from  that  of  quiet 
and  considers  it  as  a  supernatural  prayer.5  Such,  on  this 
point  in  mysticism,  is  the  final  mind  of  the  saint.  Moreover, 
Teresa  declares,  when  she  comes  to  the  description  of  the 
Fourth  Mansion  of  the  Interior  Castle,  that  she  had  "  a  little 
more  light  on  these  favours  granted  to  certain  souls"  than 
when  she  wrote  the  Life. 6 

The  recollection  in  question  cannot  be  obtained  "  by  the 

1  Cf.  R.  Hoornaert,  Le  frogres  de  la  fensee  de  sainte  Terese  entre 
la  "  Vie  "  et  le  "  Chateau  "  {Revue  des  sciences  fhil.  et  thiol.,  January, 
1924). 

2  Life,  chaps,  xiv-xv ;  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii ;  Spiritual 
Relation,  I,  LIV. 

8  Life,  ibid.,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  179.  *  Chaps,  xxviii-xxix. 

8  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii  :  "  I  shall  deal  with  a  kind  of 
prayer  which  almost  always  precedes  this  [of  quiet].  ...  It  is  a 
recollection  which  seems  to  me  to  be  also  supernatural.  ...  I  spoke 
in  the  first  place  [on  coming  to  the  Fourth  Mansion]  of  the  prayer  of 
the  divine  tastes,  or  of  quiet,  then  I  passed  on  to  the  prayer  of  recollec- 
tion.    I  ought  to  have  treated  of  the  latter  prayer  first."     CEuvres,  VI, 

P-  "4-  „  ,     . 

•  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  97.     In  Relation 

LIV,  St  Teresa  says  this  :  "  From  this  recollection  sometimes  springs 
a  quiet,  a  delicious  interior  peace.  The  soul  seems  to  want  nothing 
more ;  speaking — I  mean  praying — vocally  and  meditation  become  a 
burden  ;  it  wants  only  to  love."  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  295-296.  This  Relation 
belongs  to  1576,  a  year  before  the  Interior  Castle. 


Saint  Ueresa  145 

work  of  the  understanding-,  trying-  to  think  of  God  within 
oneself,  nor  by  that  of  the  imagination  representing  him  to 
oneself  within.  .  .  .  We  are  not  concerned  with  the  manner 
of  working  which  is  in  everyone's  power,  always,  of  course, 
with  God's  help."  Here  all  is  different.  "  Sometimes,  even 
before  we  have  begun  to  think  of  God,"  the  senses  and  the 
powers  of  the  soul  "  are  already  found  to  be  within  the 
castle."  It  is  God  himself  who  produces  such  recollection 
without  any  effort  on  our  part.  "  The  monarch  who  dwells 
within  the  royal  residence  of  the  castle  "  makes  his  voice 
heard  as  a  very  low  "whistling"  by  the  senses  and  the 
powers  which  wander  round  the  walls.  Immediately  they 
"  re-enter  the  castle  "  and  the  soul  feels,  without  incurring 
the  least  fatigue,  "  a  sweet  impression  of  recollection."1 

"  The  powers  withdraw  within  themselves  the  better  to 
relish  the  pleasure  which  they  enjoy ;  they  are  not,  however, 
suspended  or  put  to  sleep."  In  the  prayer  of  recollection 
"  the  will  alone  is  occupied,  and,  without  knowing  how  it  is 
made  captive,  it  allows  itself  to  become  God's  prisoner." 
The  understanding,  the  memory,  and  the  imagination  desire 
to  act  and  to  help  the  will.  In  reality,  they  hinder  it,  but 
it  "  must  pay  no  attention  to  them  "  and  "  remain  in  the 
enjoyment  of  its  repose."  If  it  tried  to  fetter  them,  it  would 
lose  its  own  recollection.2 

Contrariwise  to  what  is  said  by  several  spiritual  writers, 
St  Teresa  thinks  that,  in  the  prayer  of  recollection,  we  cannot 
"  fetter  the  action  of  the  mind  without  doing  more  harm 
than  good."3  It  is  in  the  most  perfect  kinds  of  prayer  that 
the  powers  of  the  soul  are  bound.  But  to  explain  this  diver- 
sity of  opinion,  it  must  be  remarked  that  all  mystics  do  not 
distinguish,  as  St  Teresa  does,  the  prayer  of  recollection  from 
that  of  quiet.  The  passage  of  the  Treatise  of  Prayer  and 
Meditation  (ch.  xii,  Counsel  8)  of  St  Peter  of  Alcantara,  to 
which  the  saint  refers,  has  to  do  with  the  state  of  a  "  man 
.  .  .  who  has  reached  repose  and  the  taste  for  contempla- 
tion "4 — that  is,  the  prayer  of  quiet. 

1  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  116. 

1  Life,  chap,  xiv,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  180.  St  Teresa  has  but  little 
appreciation  for  "  the  work  of  the  understanding  "  in  prayer.  For 
her  "  the  progress  of  the  soul  does  not  consist  in  much  thinking,  but 
in  much  loving."  Then  she  flings  out  this  sally  :  "  I  only  want  to  make 
it  well  understood  that  the  soul  is  not  the  mind,  and  that  the  will  is 
not  at  all  ruled  by  the  latter,  which,  indeed,  would  be  a  very  unhappy 
thing  for  the  will."     Foundations,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  III,  pp.  97-98. 

3  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  117.  Cf.  Relation 
LIV,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  295. 

4  Castle,  ibid.,  p.  118. 


HI.  IO 


146  Gbristfau  Spirituality 

2.   The  Prayer  of  Quiet  or  of  the  Divine  Tastes1 

Here  the  powers  of  the  soul,  without  being-  properly  bound, 
are  as  if  they  were  laid  half  asleep  : 

"  In  the  prayer  of  the  divine  tastes,  in  which  the  water 
gushes  from  the  spring  itself  without  being  brought  through 
pipes,  the  understanding  stops,  or  rather  finds  that  it  is 
stopped,  because  it  sees  that  it  does  not  itself  know  what  it 
wants.  Then  it  inclines  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the 
other,  as  if  it  were  numbed  and  incapable  of  concentrating 
upon  anything."2 

Distractions  are  harder  than  in  the  prayer  of  simple  recol- 
lection. However,  the  will  has  a  little  trouble  to  bear  "  this 
agitation  of  the  understanding,"  but  its  repose  is  not  dis- 
turbed thereby.  It  is,  indeed,  in  the  will,  because  it  "is 
fixed  upon  its  God,"  that  the  quiet  dwells.3 

God  begins  to  make  his  presence  felt  in  the  soul;  he 
captures  it  and  makes  it  happy  : 

"  Here,  indeed,  the  soul  is  immersed  in  peace,  or  rather, 
the  Lord  immerses  it  therein  by  his  presence,  as  he  did  in  the 
case  of  the  just  Simeon.  Then  all  the  powers  are  at  rest 
and  the  soul  comprehends  in  a  very  different  way  from  that 
of  the  external  senses,  that  it  is  close  to  God  and  that  it 
is  very  near  becoming  one  with  him  by  union.  .  .  .4  Then 
there  are  spiritual  blessings  which  are  unutterable,  and  even 
the  soul  itself  cannot  understand  what  it  is  actually  re- 
ceiving."5 

In  this  kind  of  prayer  the  soul  enjoys  perfect  repose  and 
relishes  a  most  sweet  pleasure.  It  is  quite  "  happy  with  its 
God."  The  will  "is  so  exquisitely  busy  without  knowing 
how"  that  all  the  endeavours  of  the  understanding  and  the 
memory  "cannot  deprive  it  of  its  content  and  happiness."6 

1  Life,  chap,  xiv-xv ;  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxxi ;  Castle,  Fourth 
Mansion,  chap,  ii  :  "  What  I  call  the  divine  tastes  and  have  elsewhere 
named  the  prayer  of  quiet."     CEuvres,  VI,  p.  108.     Cf.  chap.  iii. 

1  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  121.  Relation 
LIV. 

3  Castle,  ibid.;  Life,  chap,  xv  :  "  The  understanding  and  the  memory 
wander  in  vain,  the  will  remains  united  with  God,  the  quiet  and  repose 
persist."     CEuvres,  I,  p.  189. 

*  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxxi,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  222-223.  In  the 
Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  Teresa  appears  to  modify  this  explana- 
tion :  "In  my  opinion,  the  powers  here  are  not  united  to  God,  but 
only,  as  it  were,  inebriated,  and  they  ask  in  astonishment  what  it  can 
really  be.  ...  It  is  by  the  effects  and  ensuing  works  that  we  can  tell 
the  real  graces  of  prayer." 

5  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  no. 

6  Life,  chap,  xv,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  189.  See  chap,  xxii  :  "  I  thought 
[in  the  prayer  of  quiet]  that  I  felt  the  presence  of  God,  which  was 
true,  and  I  tried  to  keep  recollected  close  to  him.  If  only  God  shows 
himself  at  all  favourable,  this  is  a  most  agreeable  state  of  prayer,  which 
fills  one  with  delight."     CEuvres,  I,  p.  274. 


Saint  Ueresa  147 

St  Teresa  thus  describes  the  effects  of  such  prayer  when 
persevered  in  : 

"  There  appear  very  plainly  in  the  soul  a  dilatation  and 
enlargement.  Imagine  a  spring-  without  an  outlet,  and  with 
a  basin  so  made  as  to  increase  in  size  as  the  water  becomes 
more  abundant.  Well,  thus  it  is  with  this  sort  of  prayer. 
God — not  to  speak  of  many  other  wonders  then  wrought  in 
the  soul — prepares  it  and  makes  it  fit  to  contain  all  that  he 
desires  to  fill  it  with.  This  sweetness  and  interior  enlarge- 
ment may  be  known  from  the  following  effect  :  the  soul  no 
longer  finds  itself  bound  as  before  in  the  service  of  God,  but 
its  action  is  much  more  extended.  The  fear  of  hell  ceases  to 
disturb  it.  Whilst  ihe  dread  of  offending  God  increases  in 
it,  servile  fear  disappears.  .  .  .  Formerly  it  was  afraid  of 
crosses,  but  now  it  fears  them  less  because  its  faith  is  more 
living.  .  .  .  Knowing  his  [God's]  greatness  better,  it  has 
a  lower  opinion  of  itself.  As  it  has  experienced  the  delights 
that  come  from  him,  the  pleasures  of  the  world  are  but 
dung  in  its  sight.  .  .  .  Lastly,  it  grows  in  all  the  virtues, 
making  continual  progress,  if  indeed  it  draw  not  back  and 
do  nothing  to  offend  God."1 

In  the  Way  of  Perfection,2  St  Teresa  notifies  another 
favour,  which  is  "  very  difficult  to  grasp  if  one  has  not  had 
a  great  deal  of  experience,"  granted  by  God  "when  the 
quiet  is  deep  and  prolonged."  It  is  the  favour  of  combining 
the  active  life  with  the  contemplative,  of  fulfilling  the  Office 
of  Martha  and  that  of  Mary  at  the  same  time  : 

"  [Those  who  possess  it]  perceive  very  well  that  they  are 
not  altogether  in  what  they  are  doing  :  they  are  lacking  in 
the  main  thing — that  is  to  say,  in  the  will,  which,  as  it 
appears  to  me,  is  then  united  with  its  God.  As  for  the 
other  powers,  God  leaves  them  free  to  busy  themselves  with 
what  belongs  to  his  service.  For  this,  indeed,  they  are 
much  more  fit  than  they  usually  are.  But  if  they  have  to 
do  with  worldly  matters,  they  seem  to  be  dull  and,  sometimes 
even,  as  if  they  were  stupefied.  .  .  .  Then  we  serve  the 
Lord  in  all  sorts  of  ways  at  the  same  time  :  the  will  is  at  its 
own  business — I  mean  at  contemplation — without  knowing 
how  it  is  performing  it,  and  the  two  other  powers  are  doing 
the  work  of  Martha."3 

When  St  Teresa  was  raised  to  this  state,  she  did  not  know 

1  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.   121-122. 

2  Chap.  xxxi.  St  Teresa  does  not  speak  of  this  result  of  the  prayer 
of  quiet  in  the  Interior  Castle.  In  Relation  LIV,  she  attributes  it  to 
the  prayer  of  the  sleep  of  the  powers.  CEuvres,  II,  p.  296.  So,  too,  in 
the  Life,  chap,  xvii,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  211-212.  In  the  Seventh  Mansion 
of  the  Castle,  the  soul  in  the  state  of  the  spiritual  marriage  experiences 
a  similar  effect,  but  it  is  more  perfect. 

3  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxxi,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  224-226.  Cf. 
Relation  LIV,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  296. 


hs  Gbrfsttan  Spirituality 

how  to  explain  it.  She  consulted  Francis  Borgia,  who 
"  replied  that  there  was  nothing-  at  all  impossible  in  it,  and 
that  the  same  thing-  happened  to  himself." 


According  to  the  Life1  and  Relation  LIV,  between  the 
prayer  of  quiet  and  the  prayer  of  union  is  found  an  inter- 
mediate degree  of  prayer,  called  the  prayer  of  the  sleep  of 
the  powers.  St  Francis  de  Sales2  and  St  Teresa's  com- 
mentators think  that  this  sleep  of  the  powers  does  not  differ 
from  the  prayer  of  quiet. 

This  is  how  St  Teresa  describes  it  in  her  Life: 

"  Let  us  now  speak  of  the  third  kind  of  water  that  waters 
our  garden.  It  is  running  water,  coming  from  a  river  or 
fountain.  We  must  still,  it  is  true,  take  the  trouble  to  bring 
it,  but  the  watering  is  much  less  tiring.  Here  the  Lord  so 
far  helps  the  gardener  as  to  take  his  place  in  some  sort, 
doing  almost  all  the  work  himself. 

"  This  prayer  is  a  sleep  of  the  powers,  wherein  these,  with- 
out being  entirely  suspended,  do  not  understand  how  they 
work.  Consolation,  sweetness,  enjoyment  are  incomparably 
greater  than  in  the  preceding  state.  The  soul  is  so  plunged  in 
the  water  of  grace  that  it  can  go  neither  forward  nor  backward 
nor  see  how  to  do  so ;  it  aspires  only  to  enjoy  such  felicity. 
It  is  as  if  someone  were  holding  a  candle  that  had  been 
blessed  in  his  hand  and  expecting  death  at  any  moment,  but 
a  death  ardently  desired.  In  the  act  of  dying,  the  soul  is 
inundated  with  unutterable  delight.  In  my  opinion,  this  is 
to  die  almost  entirely  to  the  things  of  this  world  and  already 
to  enjoy  God.  .  .  .  The  soul  itself  no  longer  knows  what 
it  ought  to  do.  Must  it  speak  or  be  silent,  laugh  or  weep? 
It  does  not  know.  It  is  in  a  glorious  delirium,  a  heavenly 
madness,  that  we  learn  true  wisdom."3 

In  this  kind  of  prayer,  there  is  not  as  yet  the  full  union 
of  all  the  powers  with  God,  but  "  this  union  surpasses  that 
of  the  preceding  state."4  The  faculties  of  the  soul  can  still 
act,  but  only  "  to  attend  to  God."  Even  if  we  tried  hard,  we 
could  not  succeed  in  drawing  them  away  from  him ;  then 
thousands  of  words  of  praise  ascend  to  God,  but  without  any 
order,  unless  the  Lord  himself  order  them  :  at  any  rate,  the 
understanding  is  powerless  to  arrange  them."  In  this  state 
St  Teresa  exhaled  her  love  in  "  verses  full  of  utterance  .   .   . 

1  Chaps,  xvi-xvii. 

*  Treatise,  of  the  Love  of  God,  VI,  chap.  viii. 
3  Life,  chap.  xvi.     CEuvres,  I,  pp.  201-202. 

*  ibid.,  chap,  xvi,  Relation  LIV  :  "  From  this  prayer  (of  quiet) 
usually  proceeds  what  is  called  the  sleep  of  the  powers.  These  are  then 
neither  absorbed  nor  so  suspended  as  to  call  this  a  state  of  rapture  : 
nor  is  it  altogether  union."     CEuvres,  II,  p.  296. 


Saint  ZTeresa  149 

under  the  sway  of  this  holy  and  heavenly  madness."1  She 
complained  of  the  torments  of  exile  and  wanted  to  die.  She 
gave  herself  up  entirely  to  the  good  pleasure  of  God. 

St  Teresa  had  been  enjoying-  these  spiritual  favours  for 
five  or  six  years  when  she  gave  an  account  of  them  in  her 
Life.  She  acknowledges  that  she  did  not  altogether  under- 
stand them  at  first  : 

"  Until  now,"  she  says,  "  I  had  no  skill  in  them,  and  I 
was  incapable  of  giving  an  account  of  them.  Moreover,  I 
had  decided,  when  I  reached  this  point,  to  say  but  very  little 
or  even  almost  nothing  about  them.  I  well  understood  that 
in  this  state  there  was  not  an  entire  union  of  the  powers, 
and,  nevertheless,  it  was  clear  to  me  that  this  union  sur- 
passed that  of  the  preceding  state  [of  quiet].  But  I  confess 
that  I  could  not  discern  and  thoroughly  grasp  in  what  the 
difference  consisted."2 

God  enabled  her  to  take  full  knowledge  of  this  state  of 
prayer  one  day  after  Holy  Communion.  At  the  same  time 
he  taught  her  how  she  should  find  expressions  to  explain  it, 
and  how  the  soul  should  behave  in  it.3 

"This  state  seems,  at  first,"  she  says,  "to  be  the  same 
as  the  prayer  of  quiet,  and  nevertheless  there  is  a  difference 
between  them.  In  the  prayer  of  quiet,  the  soul  tries  to  avoid 
any  movement  of  whatever  kind ;  it  enjoys  the  holy  idleness 
of  Mary.  In  the  state  of  which  I  am  speaking,  it  can  also 
play  the  part  of  Martha.  .  .  .  This  mode  of  prayer  seems 
to  be  a  very  evident  union  of  the  whole  soul  with  God.  Only 
God  wishes,  apparently,  to  enable  the  powers  to  understand 
and  to  enjoy  the  greatness  of  his  work  in  them.  .  .  .  What 
cannot  be  doubted  is,  that  the  virtues  gain  much  more  vigour 
from  this  state  of  prayer  than  from  the  preceding  one,  which 
is  that  of  quiet.     The  soul  becomes  quite  changed."4 

Ten  or  twelve  years  later,  when  she  wrote  the  Interior 
Castle,  St  Teresa  makes  no  further  mention  of  the  prayer 
of  the  sleep  of  the  powers.  She  passes  directly  from  the 
prayer  of  quiet  to  the  prayer  of  union. 

3.   The  Prayer  of  Union:5  its  Nature  and  Object 

This  is  "the  fourth  kind  of  water,"  that  "which  falls 
from  heaven  to  flood  and  drench  our  garden,"  without  any 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  gardener.  "  This  rain  from  heaven 
often  falls  just  when  it  is  least  expected  by  the  gardener."6 

1  Life,  chap,  xvi,  pp.  202-203. 

2  ibid.,  chap,  xvi,  (Euvres,  I,  p.  202.  3  ibid. 
*  ibid.,  chap,  xvii,  pp.  210-21 1. 

5  ibid.,  chaps,  xviii-xix ;  Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chaps,  i-iv  ;  Relation 
LIV. 

"  ibid.,  chap,  xviii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  223. 


150  Christian  Spirituality 

Its  suddenness  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  notes  of  this  grace 
of  union  : 

"  While  I  was  keeping  in  spirit  near  Jesus  Christ  ..."  says 
St  Teresa,  "  or  else  while  I  was  reading,  I  was  suddenly 
seized  with  a  lively  sense  of  the  presence  of  God.  I  could 
then  have  no  manner  of  doubt  of  his  presence  within  me  nor 
that  I  was  myself  entirely  lost  in  him."1 

Here  God  makes  his  presence  felt  in  the  mystic's  soul 
beyond  all  doubt,  so  complete  is  the  union  : 

"  In  the  beginning,"  says  St  Teresa,  "  I  was  so  ignorant 
as  not  to  know  that  God  is  in  all  beings.  Now,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  most  intimate  presence  of  which  I  am  speaking 
appeared  to  me  to  be  incredible,  and  on  the  other,  I  could 
not  help  believing  that  God  was  there,  for  I  had  what  seemed 
a  clear  view  of  his  real  presence.  .  .  .2  God  then  establishes 
himself  in  such  a  manner  in  the  innermost  part  of  this  soul 
that  when  she  comes  to  herself  she  cannot  doubt  but  that 
she  had  been  in  God  and  God  in  her.  This  truth  is  so 
thoroughly  impressed  upon  her  spirit  that  if  years  were  to 
elapse  without  this  grace  being  renewed  she  could  neither 
forget  nor  doubt  but  that  she  had  been  in  God.  And  that  is 
quite  apart  from  the  results  effected.  .  .  .  This  certitude  is 
the  capital  point."3 

It  is  not  "  by  means  of  a  vision  "  nor  by  reasoning  that 
the  soul  acquires  the  knowledge  of  God's  presence  in  it, 
"  but  by  its  abiding  conviction  which  God  alone  can  give."4 

During  the  union,  there  is  a  "  simultaneous  suspension  of 
the  powers."  Distractions  are  impossible  in  this  state  of 
prayer ;  they  might  still  supervene  in  the  former  ones.  The 
"  little  lizards  " — that  is  to  say,  the  "  little  thoughts  arising 
from  the  imagination"  or  otherwise — may  come  into  the 
Fourth  Mansion  of  the  Castle.  But  "  however  agile  they 
may  be,  these  lizards  cannot  get  into  the  Fifth  Mansion  with 
which  we  are  dealing,  because  there  is  neither  imagination 
nor  memory  nor  understanding  to  be  an  obstacle  to  the  good 
we  enjoy  there."5 

"  Here  we  feel  nothing  at  all,  we  only  enjoy  without  know- 
ing what  we  are  enjoying.  We  see  that  we  are  enjoying  a 
good  which  includes  all  goods,  but  we  do  not  understand 
wherein  this  good  consists.  All  the  senses  are  so  absorbed 
in  this  joy  that  none  of  them  is  free  to  engage  in  anything 
else  either  within  or  without.  .  .  .6  Here  we  are  asleep — 
and  deeply  asleep — to  the  things  of  this  world  and  of  our- 
selves ;  and,  therefore,  during  the  short  period  of  union,  we 

1  Life,  chap,  x,  (Envres,  I,  p.  134. 
3  ibid.,  chap,   xviii,  pp.  226-227. 

5  Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  134. 
*  ibid.  B   ibid.,  p.   131. 

6  Life,  chap,  xviii,  (Euvres,  I,  p.  218.  St  Teresa  also  says  :  "  Here 
all  the  powers  are  bound  and  totally  suspended,"  p.  216. 


Saint  Ucresa  151 

are,  as  it  were,  without  feeling  :  even  if  we  would,  we  cannot 
think.  Then  there  is  no  need  of  any  contrivance  to  suspend 
the  activity  of  the  mind.  .  .  .  Lastly,  we  are  absolutely 
dead  to  the  world  in  order  to  live  the  more  unto  God.  And 
this  is  a  delightful  death  :  a  death,  because  the  soul  is  with- 
drawn from  all  the  operations  that  it  can  perform  while 
united  to  the  body;  and  delightful,  because  if  the  soul  appears 
really  to  be  separated  from  the  body,  it  is  in  order  to  live 
the  better  unto  God."1 

St  Teresa  has  just  told  us  that  this  union  is  short.  In 
her  Life,  she  remarks  that  "  the  time  of  the  suspension  of 
the  powers  is  always  very  brief,"  at  most  but  "  half  an 
hour."  Even  when  such  state  of  prayer  lasts  as  long  as 
that,  it  "  does  not  injure  one's  health."2 

This  state  of  union  "  leaves  the  soul  filled  with  an  extreme 
tenderness  of  love.  ...  It  feels  that  it  is  full  of  courage, 
and  if  it  were  then  torn  asunder  for  God's  sake,  it  would 
greatly  rejoice.  Then  arise  promises  and  heroic  resolutions 
and  burning  desires,  a  horror  of  the  world,  and  a  clear 
perception  of  its  vanity."  The  soul  discerns  plainly  its  un- 
worthiness  "  in  all  its  fulness;  just  as,  in  a  room  full  of  sun- 
shine, not  a  single  thread  of  a  spider's  web  escapes  our 
sight."3 

In  the  Interior  Castle  Teresa  compares  the  soul  in  the  state 
of  union  with  "  a  most  lovely  little  white  butterfly  "  coming 
from  a  silk-worm,  escaping  from  its  cocoon.  It  has  quite 
other  aspirations  than  it  had  as  a  worm  ;  it  flies  instead  of 
crawling ;  and  nowhere  does  it  find  its  true  repose.  It  is  the 
same  case  with  the  soul  in  the  prayer  of  union ;  it  has  an 
intense  desire  to  get  away  from  this  world.  It  "  cannot 
recognize  itself  any  longer.  .  .  .  Now,  indeed,  it  looks  for 
great  crosses,  and  the  desire  to  bear  them  is  irresistible.  It 
is  athirst  for  penance,  it  yearns  for  solitude,  it  wants  God  to 
be  known  by  all  men,  and,  hence,  it  is  deeply  grieved  when 
it  sees  them  offend  him."4  The  suffering  felt  by  St  Teresa 
when  she  saw  souls  perishing  gave  her  some  idea  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ.  In  fact,  the  grace  of  union  is  not  given 
for  the  soul's  own  sake.  Our  neighbour  should  profit  by  it. 
Further,  one  of  the  fruits  of  such  prayer  is  an  increase  of 
fraternal  charity,  an  advance  in  our  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
mankind.6 


In   the  prayer  of  union   we  contemplate  eternal   realities. 
What,    exactly,    is    the    object   of   such    contemplation  :    the 

1  Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  129. 

2  Life,  chap,  xviii,  (Euvres,  I,  pp.  224-225. 

3  ibid.,  chap,  xix,  (Euvres,  I,  pp.  228-229. 

*    Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  (Euvres,  VI,  pp.   142-143. 
s  ibid.,  chap.  iii. 


152  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

divinity  alone,  or  the  humanity  of  Christ?  St  Teresa  tries  to 
give  us  an  answer. 

She  knows  that  most  mystical  writers  think  that  in  high 
contemplation  the  soul  is  applied  to  God  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  else,  and  even  of  the  humanity  of  Christ  : 

"  These  writers,"  she  says,  "  strongly  exhort  (those  who 
have  attained  to  contemplation)  to  set  aside  all  corporal  re- 
presentations to  concentrate  upon  the  divinity  alone,  for, 
say  they,  even  the  humanity  of  Christ  becomes  an  obstacle 
and  an  impediment  to  perfect  contemplation.  .  .  .  (This 
last)  is  an  entirely  spiritual  thing,  and  any  corporal  thing 
may  encumber  it  and  bar  its  way.  Consider  yourself  sur- 
rounded by  God  on  all  sides,  see  yourself  immersed  in  him  : 
that  is  what  they  tell  us  to  aim  at."1 

Teresa  does  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  this  teaching  is 
"  mistaken."2  She  cannot  understand  how  the  humanity  of 
Christ  can  be  a  hindrance  to  contemplation.  Her  own  experi- 
ence proves,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  "  the  gate  whereby  we 
must  enter,  if  we  would  have  the  sovereign  Majesty  discover 
high  secrets  to  us."3     She  acknowledges,  however,  that: 

"[When]  it  pleases  God  to  suspend  all  the  powers  [of  the 
soul],  as  we  have  seen  that  he  does  in  the  various  kinds  of 
prayer  above  dealt  with,  it  is  plain  that,  in  spite  of  ourselves, 
the  presence  of  the  holy  humanity  escapes  our  notice.  That 
it  is  so  then,  well  and  good.  .  .  .  But  that  we  ourselves 
should  try  of  set  purpose,  instead  of  forming  the  habit  of 
having  this  most  holy  humanity  ever  before  us — and  would 
to  God  that  it  always  were  so  ! — to  do  exactly  the  opposite  : 
that,  once  more,  is  just  what  I  disapprove  of."4 

Despite  these  modifications,  the  mind  of  St  Teresa,  on  an 
important  point  of  mystical  theology,  is  in  disaccord  with  the 
majority  of  contemplatives.  St  Teresa  is  very  individual. 
Despite  her  great  docility  towards  her  directors,  she  does 
not  fear  from  time  to  time  to  set  her  own  experience  against 
the  views  of  the  theologians,  making  the  subtle  remark  that, 
in  mysticism  above  all,  "  God  leads  souls  by  many  ways  and 
by  many  different  paths."5 


The  prayer  of  union  paves  the  way  towards  the  spiritual 
marriage,  a  kind  of  "  interview  "  of  very  brief  duration 
between  the  soul  and  its  Lord  : 

"  The  soul  sees  in  a  merely  mysterious  way  who  he  is 
whom  she  is  about  to  take  as  her  Spouse.  The  knowledge 
which  she  thus  acquires  in  a  short  space  of  time  she  could 

1  Life,  chap,  xxii,  QLuvres,  I,  pp.  272-273.  See,  too,  Castle,  Sixth 
Mansion,  chap.  vii. 

2  Life,  ibid.,  p.  274.  3  ibid.,  p.  278. 
4  ibid.,  p.  279.                                                          5  ibid.,  p.  273. 


Saint  Ueresa  153 

not  obtain  in  a  thousand  years  by  means  of  the  senses  and 
the  powers.  The  Spouse,  being-  what  he  is,  by  this  single 
sight  of  himself  makes  her  worthier  of  his  hand,  as  we  say. 
The  soul  is  then  so  lost  in  love  that  she  does  all  that  she 
can  that  nothing  may  hinder  the  divine  espousals."1 

For  the  devil  makes  desperate  efforts  to  prevent  the  soul 
from  attaining  to  the  heavenly  marriage.  Teresa  points  out 
the  way  to  defeat  his  wiles  and  to  be  strictly  faithful  to  the 
divine  call. 

But  before  being  admitted  to  the  spiritual  marriage,  the 
soul  must  be  further  purified.  God  makes  her  pass  through 
the  painful  way  of  mystical  purification  and  by  that  of 
rapture  and  ecstasy.  This  is  the  subject  of  the  Sixth  Man- 
sion of  the  Interior  Castle,  which  must  be  reached  before 
attaining  to  the  mystical  marriage  of  the  Seventh  Mansion. 

Before  going  any  further,  let  us  note  the  wonderful  effects 
in  the  way  of  zeal  wrought  in  St  Teresa  by  the  mystical 
union.  Not  in  vain  did  God  accord  her  such  extraordinary 
prayer  and  the  favours  which  accompanied  it.  She  had  a 
very  important  mission  to  fulfil  :  the  Carmelite  reform.  The 
period  of  her  life  in  which  she  was  raised  to  this  degree  of 
prayer,  and  to  the  most  extraordinary  of  her  other  states,  was 
exactly  coincident  with  that  of  her  numerous  foundations.2 

4.  The  usual  Preparations  for  the  Spiritual  Marriage:  Pas- 
sive Purifications* — Raptures  —  Ecstasy — Visions  and 
Revelations* 

"O  God!"  says  St  Teresa,  "what  inward  and  outward 
pains  do  we  not  endure  before  entering  into  the  Seventh 
Mansion  !     Of  a  truth,  when  I  think  of  it,   it  seems  to  me 

1   Castle,  Fifth  Mansion,  chap,  iv,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  161. 

*  In  1562  she  founded  the  monastery  of  the  Carmelites  of  St  Joseph 
of  Avila,  where  she  spent  five  years  (1562- 1567),  "  the  sweetest  of  her 
life,"  she  says.  During  the  next  four  years  (1567-1571)  she  founded 
nine  monasteries,  seven  for  nuns  :  Medina  del  Campo,  Malagon,  Valla- 
dolid,  Toledo,  Pastrana,  Salamanca,  and  Alba ;  and  two  for  men  : 
Duruelo  and  Pastrana.  Her  three  years'  priorate  at  the  Convent  of 
the  Incarnation  of  Avila  (1571-1574),  which  she  was  charged  to  reform, 
stopped  the  foundations  for  a  time;  the  only  exception  was  that  of 
Segovia.  On  regaining  her  freedom,  she  resumes  her  travels  and 
works.  In  less  than  a  year  (February,  1575-January,  1576),  she  gives 
three  new  convents  of  nuns  to  the  Reform  :  Beas,  Seville,  and  Caravoca. 
Then  persecution  was  let  loose  upon  her  work  and  brought  it  within  a 
hair's  breadth  of  destruction.  All  foundations  were  suspended  until 
1580.  On  the  other  hand,  the  last  three  years  of  her  life  (1580-1582) 
were  to  see  the  erection  of  five  new  monasteries  :  Villanueva  de  la  Jara, 
Palencia,  Soria,  Granada,  and  Burgos.  (Euvres,  III,  p.  17.  How  can 
it  be  said  that  St  Teresa  was  a  sick  woman,  and  that  what  was  extra- 
ordinary in  her  inner  life  belongs  to  pathology  ? 

3  Life,  chaps,  xxx-xxxi ;   Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chaps,  i-ii. 

*  Life,  chaps,  xx,  xxiv-xxix,  xxxii,  xxxvii-xl ;  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion, 
chaps,  iii-xi ;  Foundations,  chaps,  vi,  viii ;  Relation  LIV. 


154  Cbrtetfan  Spirituality 

that  if  we  knew  of  them  beforehand,  our  natural  weakness 
would  find  it  very  hard  to  resolve  to  face  them,  whatever 
gain  might  be  otherwise  promised  us."1 

These  troubles — to  begin  with  the  least  of  them — are  the 
ill-natured  comments,  the  criticisms,  and  the  calumnies  of 
the  people  with  whom  we  are  connected.  According  to  them, 
we  are  wandering  astray  and  cheated  with  illusions,  we  are, 
like  a  host  of  others,  the  playthings  of  Satan,  we  bring 
virtue  into  disrepute  and  deceive  our  confessors.  "  There  will 
be  endless  scoffing  and  all  sorts  of  things  said  against  us."2 

The  Lord  also  usually  sends  very  serious  illnesses.  "  This 
torment  far  exceeds  the  foregoing  one,  especially  if  the  pains 
we  suffer  are  sharp."3  When  she  was  writing  the  Interior 
Castle,  St  Teresa  declared  that  since  she  received  the  grace 
of  union — that  is  to  say,  during  forty  years — she  had  not 
passed  a  single  day  without  suffering.4 

Amongst  her  interior  troubles  must  be  placed  those  she 
had  to  endure  when  she  happened  to  meet  with  an  ignorant 
or  inexperienced  confessor  to  whom  everything  seemed  sus- 
picious and  who  condemned  all  spiritual  favours,  "  putting 
everything  down  to  the  devil  or  to  melancholia."5  No  one 
ever  experienced  this  sort  of  suffering  more  than  Teresa. 

This  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  confessor  gives  rise  to 
another  torment.  The  soul  thus  rebuffed  imagines  that 
owing  to  its  sins  God  allows  it,  in  fact,  to  deceive  itself  : 

"  My  mind  became  so  darkened,"  relates  St  Teresa,  "  that 
I  fell  into  innumerable  doubts  and  perplexities.  I  said  to 
myself  that  I  had  understood  nothing  of  what  was  taking 
place  within  me,  perhaps  it  was  all  mere  reverie,  and  it  ought 
to  be  enough  for  me  to  be  misled  myself  without  misleading 
honest  people.  I  felt  that  I  was  so  detestable  that  I  believed 
that  by  my  sins  I  was  the  cause  of  all  the  evils  and  heresies 
which  have  appeared  in  our  days."6 

When  the  confessor  happens  to  reassure  his  poor  afflicted 
penitent,  "  the  torment  subsides  only  to  return."  Further- 
more, she  succeeds  in  persuading  herself  that  she  is  really 
deceiving  her  confessor.7  God  alone  can  quell  such  tempests. 
He  sometimes  does  so,  but  only  for  a  short  time.  For  he 
permits  other  inward  and  more  painful  afflictions,  especially 
the  belief  that  he  has  abandoned  us. 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  168. 

2  ibid.,  p.  169.  St  Teresa  alludes  specially  to  the  criticisms, 
gibes,  affronts,  and  persecutions  of  which  she  became  the  butt  from 
1562,  the  year  of  the  foundation  of  the  first  monastery  of  bare-footed 
Carmelites  at  Avila.     Cf.  H.  Joly,  Sainte  Ter'ese,  pp.  121  ff. 

s  Castle,  ibid.,  p.  171. 

4  ibid.,  p.  172.     Cf.  Life,  chap,  xxx,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  387. 

8  Castle,  ibid.,  pp.  172,  173. 

6  Life,  chap,  xxx,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  387;  Castle,  ibid.,  vi,  pp.  17^-174. 

»  Castle,  ibid. 


Satnt  Ueresa  155 

This  torment  is  inexpressible  :  "  The  anguish  and  affliction 
of  spirit  are  such  that  one  knows  not  what  name  to  give 
them,"  says  St  Teresa.  As  to  all  that  is  good,  there  is  no 
light;  we  see  only  the  evil  we  have  done.  God  altogether 
hides  himself  and  we  feel  as  if  we  had  never  loved  him. 
The  devil  tries  to  make  us  doubt  the  divine  goodness  : 
"The  soul  regards  God  as  putting  everything  to  fire  and 
sword  ;  it  pictures  his  justice,  and,  while  keeping  faith  in  his 
mercy — which  the  devil  cannot  go  so  far  as  to  take  away — 
it  draws  no  consolation  from  it."  In  this  state,  mental 
prayer  is  hard,  for  "  the  powers  are  incapable  of  it."  Even 
vocal  prayer  gives  no  consolation  : 

"  Yes,  of  a  truth,"  says  St  Teresa,  "  it  appears  to  me  that 
the  devils  are  playing  ball  with  my  soul,  and  that  my  soul 
cannot  escape  them.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  the  soul 
then  suffers.  ...  In  my  opinion,  it  is  a  sort  of  foretaste 
of  hell ;  and  the  comparison  is  quite  accurate,  as  God  showed 
me  in  a  vision.  The  soul,  indeed,  burns  inwardly ;  but  it 
knows  not  by  whom  and  in  what  manner  the  fire  is  kindled ; 
it  knows  not  how  to  fly  from  it  or  to  put  it  out."1 

By  these  sufferings,  compared  by  St  Teresa  to  those  of 
purgatory,2  God  purifies  the  soul  and  makes  it  acknowledge 
his  sovereignty.  He  thoroughly  humiliates  it  and  thus  pre- 
pares it  for  the  reception  of  great  spiritual  favours. 

The  period  of  purification  once  begun,  the  heavenly  Spouse 
sends  forth  his  call  to  the  spiritual  marriage. 

This  is  first  heard  in  "  impulses  springing  from  the  very 
depths  of  the  soul,  so  delicate  and  subtle"  that  it  is  hard  to 
give  any  true  idea  of  them  : 

"  Often  when  one  is  not  in  the  least  thinking  of  it,  and 
one's  mind  is  not  occupied  with  God,  his  Majesty  suddenly 
awakens  the  soul  :  it  is  like  a  shooting  star  or  a  clap  of 
thunder.  .  .  .  The  soul  clearly  understands  that  God  has 
called  her.  He  makes  her  feel  his  presence,  and  yet  does  not 
reveal  himself  in  such  a  way  as  to  let  her  enjoy  it."3 

God  calls  the  soul  in  yet  another  way  : 

"  He  speaks  to  her.  .  .  .  His  words  are  of  many  kinds  : 
some  seem  to  come  from  without,  others  from  the  innermost 
depths  of  the  soul,  others  from  the  higher  part.  Lastly, 
others  seem  so  external  that  they  are  perceived  by  the  ears ; 
one  seems  to  hear  an  articulate  voice."* 

1  Life,  chap,  xxx,  (Euvres,  I,  pp.  388,  389.  Cf.  chap,  xx,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  247-248.  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap.  i.  St  Teresa  also  experi- 
enced outward  temptations  of  the  devil.     Life,  chap.  xxxi. 

2  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap.  xi. 

3  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  (Euvres,  VI,  pp.  179-180. 

4  Castle,  chap,  iii,  (Euvres,  p.  185.  Cf.  Life,  chaps,  xxv,  xxvi. 
In  her   first  rapture,    St  Teresa  heard   our   Lord  utter   these  words  : 


156  Cbristian  Spirituality 

But  here  illusion  is  easy,  and  Teresa  explains  at  length  the 
signs  by  which  one  may  distinguish  a  divine  source  from 
what  is  diabolical  or  merely  pathological.1 


When  the  divine  call  has  been  heard,  the  soul  is  led  to  the 
spiritual  marriage  by  means  of  raptures.  They  are  like  the 
"  betrothal,"  they  free  the  soul  from  the  senses  and  make  her 
capable  of  close  union  with  God.  It  was  about  the  year  1562 
that  the  great  raptures  began  which  prepared  St  Teresa  for 
the  spiritual  marriage  with  which  she  was  favoured  ten  years 
later. 

"  Rapture,  elevation,  flight  of  the  spirit,  transport,  these 
are  all  the  same,  and  the  different  names  express  but  one 
thing,  which  is  also  called  ecstasy."2  St  Teresa  describes 
them  with  her  usual  precision. 

She  first  notes  the  effects  produced  in  the  body  of  the 
ecstatic  : 

"At  the  moment  when  the  rapture  begins,"  she  says, 
"  one  ceases  breathing  and,  if  one  keeps  one's  other  senses 
for  a  very  short  time,  one  loses  the  power  of  speech  imme- 
diately. At  other  times,  one  loses  the  use  of  all  one's  senses 
suddenly ;  the  hands  and  the  whole  of  the  body  are  frozen 
to  such  a  point  that  the  soul  seems  to  have  withdrawn. 
Sometimes  we  have  to  ask  ourselves  if  we  are  still  breathing. 
This  is  but  for  a  little  while,  at  least  so  far  as  it  is  a  fixed 
state,  for  when  the  great  suspension  begins  to  decrease,  the 
body  seems  to  become  somewhat  reanimated.  But  if  it  re- 
covers a  little  life,  it  is  only  to  die  afresh  and  to  leave  the 
soul  more  alive.  Nevertheless,  such  a  high  degree  of  ecstasy 
is  but  of  brief  duration."3 

Rapture  is  sometimes  accompanied  with  the  raising  of  the 
body  from  the  ground.  It  is  the  phenomenon  of  levitation 
that  mystics  are  so  afraid  of.  It  is  the  spirit  that  is  carried 
away  first  of  all  : 

/  wish  thee  to  converse  no  longer  with  men  but  with  angels.  These 
words  were  spoken  in  the  innermost  part  of  the  soul.  Life,  chap,  xxiv, 
CEuvres,  I,  p.  309. 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap.  iii. 

8  Life,  chap,  xx,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  241. 

9  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  207.  Life,  chap, 
xx,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  242  ff  :  "  During  such  raptures,  the  soul  appears  no 
longer  to  animate  the  body.  We  very  plainly  perceive  the  natural  heat 
departing  and  the  body  getting  colder  and  colder,  but  in  an  unspeakably 
sweet  and  pleasant  manner.  .  .  .  The  body  is  often  as  if  dead  and 
utterly  impotent  :  it  stays  just  as  it  happens  to  be  overtaken,  with  the 
hands  open  or  closed.  Consciousness  is  but  rarely  lost.  Yet  I  have 
sometimes  lost  it  altogether.  .  .  .  Generally  the  eyes  are  closed  in- 
voluntarily ;  and,  if  they  happen  to  remain  open,  I  repeat  that  we  do  not 
distinguish  or  apprehend  anything."  Cf.  Relation  LIV,  Foundations, 
chap.  vi. 


Saint  Ueresa  157 

"  Sometimes,"  says  Teresa,  "  the  soul  feels  that  she  is 
transported  with  such  a  sudden  motion,  and  the  spirit  seems 
carried  away  with  such  velocity  that  one  experiences,  especi- 
ally at  first,  a  real  alarm.  This  is  why  I  told  those  whom 
God  intends  to  receive  such  graces  that  they  need  great 
courage.  Do  you  think,  indeed,  that  anyone  in  full  posses- 
sion of  her  faculties  feels  but  little  disturbed  when  she  is 
aware  of  her  soul  being  thus  raised — and  her  body,  too,  as 
we  read  of  in  the  case  of  some  people — without  knowing 
whither  she  is  going  or  who  is  carrying  her  away  or  what 
it  all  means?  For  just  when  the  sudden  motion  occurs,  we 
have  no  certainty  as  yet  that  it  proceeds  from  God.  But  is 
it  not  possible  to  resist?  No.  .  .  .  With  the  same  ease 
with  which  a  giant  carries  off  a  straw,  so  does  our  divine 
Giant  in  his  power  carry  away  the  spirit."1 

St  Teresa  often  tried  to  resist.  She  did  it  with  all  her 
might,  especially  when  she  was  seized  with  ecstasy  in  public. 
Once,  when  she  was  about  to  communicate,  she  felt  herself 
rising  from  the  ground.  She  seized  the  grille  with  both 
hands  to  cling  on  to  it.  She  sometimes  succeeded  in  some- 
what neutralizing  the  force  which  was  carrying  her  away, 
"but  at  the  cost  of  an  extraordinary  lassitude."  At  other 
times,  "all  resistance  was  impossible."2  She  also  tried  to 
lie  down  on  the  ground  when  she  perceived  that  an  ecstasy 
was  coming  on ;  her  nuns  surrounded  her  to  keep  her  where 
she  was.  Lastly,  she  besought  our  Lord  to  grant  her  no 
such  favours.  The  raptures  continued,  but  they  were  only 
rarely  accompanied  with  the  raising  of  her  body.3 

These  external  phenomena,  however  extraordinary,  are  of 
much  less  importance  than  the  graces  imparted  to  the  soul 
in  moments  of  rapture.  The  soul  is  rapt  in  ecstasy  by  an 
interior  grace  :  it  is  "  suddenly  struck  by  a  divine  word 
remembered  or  heard."  The  spark  of  love  is  powerfully  re- 
kindled in  it  until  it  is  thoroughly  afire.  At  the  same  time  our 
Lord  unites  with  the  soul  "in  a  manner  known  only  to  both 
of  them."  And  further,  the  soul  is  afterwards  unable  to  give 
any  real  account  of  it.* 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  210-211.  A  little 
farther  on  in  the  same  chapter,  we  read  :  "I  return  to  this  rapid 
carrying  away  of  the  spirit.  Such  is  its  impetuosity  that  the  spirit 
appears  really  to  be  parting  from  the  body.  .  .  .  For  some  moments 
the  (person  in  ecstasy)  cannot  tell  whether  her  soul  is  in  the  body  or 
out  of  it.  She  believes  that  she  is  transported  .  .  .  into  some  other 
region."      Cf.  Life,  chap.  xx. 

2  Life,  chap,  xx,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  243  :  "  When  I  wanted  to  resist,  I 
felt  as  if  there  were  amazing  forces  under  my  feet  and  that  they  were 
carrying  me  away.  .  .  .  There  is  a  terrible  struggle,  and  it  is  of  very 
little  use  when  God  means  to  act."     CEuvres,  I,  p.  245. 

3  Life,  ibid. 

*  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  199-200.  Ibid., 
chap,  v  :  "  As  swiftly  as  the  bullet  leaves  the  arquebus  when  it  is  fired, 


158  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

In  rapture,  although  "  the  powers  (of  the  soul)  are  so 
absorbed  as  to  be  dead,  and  the  senses  also,"  the  soul  has 
never  been  "  so  awake  to  the  things  of  God  "  or  "  so  en- 
lightened and  conscious  of  his  majesty."  St  Teresa  makes 
no  attempt  to  explain  how  that  may  be ;  but,  according-  to 
her,  unless  the  soul,  when  raised  to  such  states  as  these, 
sometimes  heard  such  "  secrets,"  the  divine  character  of  its 
raptures  would  be  open  to  doubt.  God  usually  reveals  super- 
natural truths  to  the  ecstatic  by  intellectual  or  imaginative 
visions   of  which  more  will  be  heard  later  on.1 

When  the  soul  is  thus  "beyond  itself"  it  rapidly  acquires  a 
threefold  knowledge  :  that  of  God's  greatness  revealed  in  such 
wonderful  effects,  that  of  its  own  nothingness  and  lowness 
despite  which  the  Lord  comes  to  it,  and  that  of  the  vanity  of 
the  things  of  this  world.  The  soul  becomes  supremely  detached 
from  all  creatures.  "  In  an  hour,  and  even  less,  it  gains  such 
a  wonderful  liberty  that  it  does  not  know  itself."  It  is  no 
longer  fettered  by  any  created  thing.2 

Moreover,  divine  love  grows  at  a  bound  during  ecstasy. 
When  the  soul  has  entirely  come  to  itself,  it  feels  an  in- 
credibly ardent  desire  to  serve  God  in  every  way.  It  "  wants 
to  have  a  thousand  lives  to  devote  them  all  to  God,  it  would 
have  everything  in  the  world  changed  into  tongues  to  bless 
him  with ;  its  thirst  for  penance  is  insatiable.  ...  It  sees 
clearly  that  the  torments  of  martyrs  were  easy  for  them  to 
endure,  because  such  help  from  our  Lord  makes  everything 
easy."3  The  soul  itself  suffers  "  a  martyrdom  both  delightful 
and  cruel,"  which  it  can  neither  describe  nor  explain.  It  is 
like  a  painful  ecstasy  arising  from  the  loss  of  the  vision  of  God. 

In  short,  "  before  experiencing  ecstasy  the  soul  is  con- 
vinced that  it  is  careful  not  to  offend  God,  and  that  it  is 
serving  him  to  the  utmost  of  its  powers.  But  no  sooner  has 
it  received  this  grace  than  the  sun  of  justice  shines  upon 
it  and  makes  it  open  its  eyes."4  It  sees  how  imperfect  it 
is ;  but  the  graces  of  rapture  very  soon  transform  it. 

Amidst  these  both  "  painful  and  delightful  "  effects  of  rap- 
ture, our  Lord  imparts  to  the  soul  from  time  to  time  "  cer- 
tain jubilations  and  a  kind  of  strange  prayer,  the  nature  of 
which  is  inexplicable."  There  are  'loving  transports  of 
incredible  vehemence  "  : 

"  In   my   view,"   says   St  Teresa,    "  there   is   a   very  close 

within   the  soul   arises   an   impulse,   which    I   call   a  soaring.   ...      It 
transports  one  so  evidently  that  illusion  is  impossible"  (pp.  215-216). 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  200-201.  Cf. 
Life,  chap.  xx. 

2  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  216-217.  Life,  chaps. 
xx-xxi. 

3  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  208. 
*  Life,  xx,  CEuvres,  I,  261. 


Saint  XTeresa  159 

union  between  the  powers  [of  the  soul]  and  God;  only  they 
retain,  along-  with  the  senses,  the  freedom  to  enjoy  their 
happiness.  But  what  do  they  enjoy,  and  how  do  they  enjoy 
it?  This  they  know  not.  This  is  like  Arabic,  and  yet  it  is 
pure  truth.  The  soul  experiences  such  excessive  joy  that 
it  would  not  be  alone  in  feeling-  it,  but  would  proclaim  it 
everywhere,  to  be  helped  to  thank  our  Lord  for  it,  since 
to  that  is  it  borne  by  an  irresistible  impulse.  Oh  !  if  it  were 
in  our  power,  what  festivals  should  we  celebrate,  what 
demonstrations  of  joy,  to  impart  our  happiness  to  all  the 
world  !   .    .    . 

"  Such  were  the  transports  that  befell  St  Francis,  I  think, 
when  he  was  met  by  robbers  while  he  was  shouting  aloud 
in  the  open  country,  and  told  them  that  he  was  the  herald 
of  the  Great  King.  And  how  many  other  saints  fled  into  the 
desert  to  be  able,  as  he  did,  to  proclaim  the  praise  of  God  ! 

'  I  knew  one  such — to  judge  by  his  life,  I  may  put  him 
among  them — who  acted  in  the  same  way.  This  was  the 
friar  Peter  of  Alcantara.  At  the  present  time  those  who 
have  heard  him  still  believe  that  he  was  mad.  O  happy 
madness,  my  sisters,  would  to  God  that  we  were  all  touched 
with  it  I"1 

It  was  in  one  of  these  transports  of  love  that  St  Teresa, 
about  the  year  1560,  received  the  signal  grace  known  as 
Transverbe  ration: 

;'  I  saw  an  angel  near  me,"  she  says,  "  on  my  left,  and  in 
bodily  form.  .  .  .  He  was  not  tall,  but  short  and  very 
beautiful ;  his  fiery  face  seemed  to  show  that  he  belonged  to 
the  highest  hierarchy,  that  of  the  spirits  all  on  fire  with  love. 
These  are,   I  think,  those  called  cherubim   [seraphim],   .   .   . 

"  I  saw  in  the  angel's  hands  a  long  golden  dart,  the  iron 
point  of  which  was  tipped  with  a  little  fire.  Sometimes  he 
seemed  to  me  to  be  thrusting  this  dart  through  my  heart, 
and  to  plunge  it  deep  within  me.  When  he  withdrew  it,  I 
was  left  all  on  fire  with  the  most  ardent  love  of  God.  So 
intense  was  my  pain  that  it  made  me  utter  the  feeble  plaints 
of  which  I  have  spoken.  But  at  the  same  time  the  sweetness 
caused  by  this  unspeakable  pain  is  so  excessive  that  one 
would  take  care  not  to  ask  for  it  to  end.   .   .   . 

"  During  all  these  transports  I  seemed  to  be  beside  myself. 
I  wanted  neither  to  hear  nor  to  speak,  but  to  give  myself 
up  entirely  to  my  torment,  which  for  me  was  a  bliss  beyond 
all  created  joy."2 

In  an  extraordinary  state  of  prayer  God  sometimes  com- 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  vi,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  224-225.  Cf. 
Life,  chap.  xxix. 

2  Life,  chap,  xxix,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  378-379.  This  vision  of  the 
transverberating  angel  was  granted  to  St  Teresa  "  several  times," 
P-  37%- 


160  Cbristian  Spirituality 

municates  with  the  soul  by  visions.  These  are  of  three 
kinds  :  intellectual,  imaginative,  and  corporal. 

She  declares  in  her  Relation  to  Father  Rodriguez  Alvarez, 
S.J.,  appointed  by  the  Inquisitors  in  1576  to  examine  her 
spirit,  that  she  "  never  saw  anything-  with  the  eyes  of  the 
body  nor  heard  anything  with  her  bodily  ears  except  twice 
only.  And  then  she  never  grasped  anything  that  was  said 
to  her  nor  knew  who  was  speaking  to  her."1 

Christ  once  appeared  to  St  Teresa  in  an  intellectual  vision. 
He  was  neither  perceived  by  her  bodily  eyes,  nor  by  those 
of  the  soul,  but  by  a  sort  of  mental  intuition  : 

"  Being  engaged  in  prayer,"  she  says,  "  on  a  feast-day  of 
the  glorious  St  Peter,2  I  saw  near  me — or  rather  I  felt,  for 
I  saw  nothing  with  the  eyes  of  the  body  nor  with  those  of 
the  soul — it  appeared  to  me,  I  say,  that  I  saw  Jesus  Christ 
close  to  me.  At  the  same  time  I  understood  that  it  was  he 
whom  I  believed  that  I  heard  speaking  to  me.  ...  It  ap- 
peared to  me  that  Jesus  Christ  kept  constantly  by  my  side; 
however,  as  the  vision  presented  no  image,  I  could  not  see 
what  form  he  had,  but  that  he  was  always  at  my  right  hand, 
that  I  felt  clearly.  He  was  the  witness  of  all  my  acts,  and 
if  I  kept  the  least  recollected  or  undistracted,  I  could  not  be 
unaware  of  his  presence  close  to  me."3 

Such  an  intellectual  vision  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  feeling  of  the  presence  of  God  experienced  by  those 
"who  are  favoured  with  the  prayer  of  union  or  of  quiet."4 
By  the  effects  wrought  by  God  Within  them,  they  understand 
that  he  is  there.  In  the  former  case  all  occurs  quite  other- 
wise. Christ  kept  close  to  St  Teresa  without  her  seeing 
him.  She  understood  so  clearly  that  it  was  he  "  that  all 
doubt  was  impossible."5  She  knew  quite  well  that  it  was 
he,  Christ  himself,  who  usually  spoke  to  her.  The  vision 
sometimes  lasted  a  long  time.6 

St  Teresa  first  of  all  was  frightened.  She  was  afraid  of 
being  the  victim  of  a  diabolical  illusion.  She  "  went  away 
quite  cast  down  to  find  her  confessor,"  who  did  nothing  to 
reassure  her,  for  he  could  not  understand  how  his  penitent 
could  know  that  Christ  was  near  her,  since  she  never  saw 
him. 7     She  was  not  fully   enlightened  until  later  on  by  St 

1  Relation  LIU,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  290.     Cf.  Life,  chap,  xxviii,  ibid.,  I, 

P-  354- 

2  Probably  on  June  29,  1557. 

3  Life,  chap,  xxvii,  GLuvres,  I,  pp.  336-337.  Cf.  Castle,  Sixth 
Mansion,  chap,  viii,  ibid.,  VI,  p.  241.  Relation  LIU,  Vol.  II,  pp.  293- 
294. 

*  Life,  chap,  xxvii,  ibid.,  VI,  p.  338. 

*  Castle,  ibid.,  VI,  p.  241. 

'  Life,  chap,  xxvii.  St  Teresa  says  that  she  had  this  vision  for 
some  time  "  in  some  sort  continually  "  and  that  she  did  not  leave  her 
state  of  prayer.     Life,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  III,  p.  352. 

7  Castle,  ibid.    Cf.  Relation  LIU. 


Saint  TTcresa  161 

Peter  of  Alcantara  and  "  other  great  theologians."  Intellec- 
tual vision  is  of  "  the  highest  kind  "  ;  it  is  "  that  in  which  the 
devil  has  the  least  admittance."  Towards  the  close  of 
her  life,  when  Teresa  remembered  what  the  ignorance  of  her 
directors  had  then  inflicted  upon  her,  she  recommended  her 
nuns,  when  in  doubt,  to  consult  great  theologians  who  were 
"advanced  in  spirituality."  You  should  prefer,  she  would 
say,  "  a  man  eminent  in  doctrine,"  even  if  lacking  in  piety, 
to  "  a  man  devoted  to  prayer,"  but  of  little  learning.1 

Amidst  her  fears  Teresa  was  reassured  by  the  conviction 
that  Christ  was  near  her,  and  especially  by  the  graces  that 
accompanied  the  vision.  When  our  Lord  said  Fear  not,  it 
is  I,  she  could  not  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  authenticity  of 
these  words  : 

"  Such  excellent  company  filled  her  with  courage  and  joy ; 
she  found  it  a  powerful  aid  in  thinking  of  God  continually, 
and  in  keeping  herself  very  carefully  away  from  all  that  might 
displease  him,  whose  look  seemed  to  her  to  be  always 
fastened  upon  her.  If  she  wanted  to  speak  to  our  Lord 
either  during  her  prayer  or  at  other  times,  she  always  found 
him  so  near  that  he  could  not  but  hear  her.  As  for  his 
words,  she  did  not  hear  them  according  to  her  inclination, 
but  unexpectedly  and  when  necessary. "2 

St  Teresa  was  further  favoured  with  intellectual  visions  of 
another  kind,  in  which  God  imparted  to  her  wonderful  en- 
lightenment as  to  supernatural  realities. 

One  of  them  told  her  "  how  all  things  are  seen  in  God,  and 
how  he  contains  them  all  within  himself."  The  malice  of 
sin  was  disclosed  to  her,  for  she  saw  "  that  it  is  in  God, 
yes,  in  God  himself,  that  we  commit  the  most  monstrous 
sins."     And  this  truth  filled  her  with  fear.3 

Another  vision  showed  her  God  as  the  supreme  truth, 
"the  truth  which  cannot  lie."  She  understood  why  humility 
is  so  excellent  a  virtue.  "  It  is  because  God  is  the  supreme 
truth,  and  humility  is  nothing  else  than  walking  in  truth. 
.  .  .  We  have  nothing  good  of  ourselves  .  .  .  misery  and 
nothingness  are  our  lot."  Not  to  know  that  is  to  walk  in 
lies.     To  be  convinced  of  it  is  to  walk  in  truth.4 

A  soul  in  the  state  of  grace  was  also  shown  her  in  a  "  very 
extraordinary  "  intellectual  vision.  She  saw  that  "  the  Holy 
Trinity  was  with  this  soul,  and  a  companionship  so  divine 
communicated  to  it  a  sovereignty  over  the  whole  world."5 

1  Castle,   ibid,,   pp.   246-247.      Cf.    Life,    chap,    xiii,    CEuvres,   I,   pp. 

I75-I76- 

2  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  viii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  242.  Cf.  Life, 
chap.  xl. 

s  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  x,  p.  262.      Cf.  Life,  chap,  xi,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  147. 
*  Castle,  ibid.,  pp.  264-265.     Cf.  Life,  chap,  xl,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  141- 
144. 
5  Relation  XXI,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  242. 

III.  II 


i6a  Christian  Spirituality 

Finally,  in  the  last  years  of  her  life  Teresa  had  an  intel- 
lectual vision  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  as  she  will  explain  to 
us  later  on  in  dealing-  with  the  Seventh  Mansion  of  the 
Interior  Castle. 

Towards  the  end  of  1557,  a  few  months  after  her  first 
intellectual  vision,  Teresa  saw  in  imagination  our  Lord's 
humanity.1 

His  holy  humanity  was  shown  to  her  gradually,  as  if  to 
prepare  her  little  by  little  to  bear  its  glory.  First  of  all 
the  Saviour  showed  her  only  his  hands.  Their  beauty  was 
so  marvellous,  she  says,  that  it  is  impossible  to  depict  it. 
Soon  afterwards  Teresa  also  saw  the  holy  face  of  the 
Saviour,  and  was  altogether  ravished  by  it.  Lastly,  one 
day  on  the  feast  of  the  Conversion  of  St  Paul  she  saw  the 
Saviour's  humanity  in  its  entirety,  "  as  it  is  represented  after 
the  resurrection,  in  extraordinary  beauty  and  majesty."2 
She  cannot  express  the  beauty  of  the  vision  : 

"  Had  I  spent  year  after  year,"  she  says,  "trying  to  pic- 
ture to  myself  anything  so  beautiful,  I  should  have  neither  the 
power  nor  the  talent  to  succeed  in  doing  it,  so  far  do  its  singu- 
lar whiteness  and  brightness  surpass  all  that  can  be  imagined 
here  below.  It  is  a  brightness  that  dazzles  not,  a  whiteness 
full  of  sweetness,  an  infused  splendour  that  charms  one's 
sight  delightfully  without  wearying  it.  As  for  the  clear 
light  which  enables  one  to  perceive  such  wholly  divine 
beauty,  it  is  an  entirely  different  light  from  that  of  this 
world.  The  shining  of  the  sun  seems  indeed  to  be  so  dull 
compared  with  this  brightness,  which  is  presented  to  our 
inward  gaze,  that  afterwards  we  want  never  to  open  our 
eyes  again."3 

Teresa  often  had  this  vision  during  two  years  and  a  half, 
probably  the  years  1558,  1559,  and  1560.  Her  womanly 
curiosity  sometimes  fastened  upon  certain  details  of  the 
vision  : 

"  While  our  Lord  was  speaking  to  me,"  she  says,  "  and 
I  was  contemplating  his  wonderful  beauty,  I  noted  the  sweet- 
ness and  sometimes  the  severity  with  which  his  most  beau- 
tiful and  divine  mouth  uttered  his  words.  I  had  an  extreme 
desire  to  know  the  colour  of  his  eyes  and  the  dimensions  of 
his  height,  so  as  to  be  able  to  speak  of  them  ;  but  I  never 
merited  to  take  knowledge  of  them  :  any  attempt  for  that 
purpose  is  quite  useless."4 

1  An  imaginative  vision,  in  which  the  imagination  receives  super- 
naturally  and  passively  an  image  which  God  desires  to  present  to  the 
soul.     Such  is  the  vision  of  hell  related  on  p.  199. 

2  Life,  chap,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  353. 

3  Life,  chap,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  355-356.  Cf.  Castle,  Sixth  Man- 
sion, chap  ix. 

*  Life,  chap,  xxix,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  369. 


Saint  tteresa  163 

Our  Lord  then  showed  her  that  her  curiosity  was  indis- 
creet by  withdrawing-  the  vision. 

Teresa  tries  to  explain  how  she  saw  Jesus.  It  was  not 
with  the  eyes  of  the  body ;  the  vision  was  altogether  inward  : 

"  On  some  occasions,"  she  says,  "  what  I  saw  seemed  to 
me  to  be  an  image,  but  on  many  others,  it  was  not  so ;  it 
seemed  to  me  to  be  Jesus  Christ  himself.  That  depended 
upon  the  clearness  with  which  he  condescended  to  show  him- 
self to  me.  Sometimes  it  was  in  a  rather  uncertain  manner, 
and  then  I  thought  I  saw  an  image,  but  an  image  that  has 
nothing  in  common  with  the  representations  of  this  world, 
however  perfect  they  may  be.  ...  If  it  is  an  image,  it  is 
a  living  image.  It  is  not  a  dead  man  ;  it  is  the  living  Christ, 
and  he  lets  it  be  clearly  known  that  he  is  God  and  man,  not 
as  he  was  in  the  tomb,  but  as  he  left  it  in  rising  again.  .  .  . 
Sometimes  he  appears  in  such  majesty  that  no  one  could 
doubt  but  that  it  is  the  Saviour  himself."1 

Just  because  the  vision  occurs  in  the  imagination,  it  runs 
the  risk  of  producing  many  illusions.  The  devil  and  the 
imagination  itself  may  bring  them  about.  Hence  came  the 
difficulties  of  the  confessors  when  Teresa  resorted  to  them 
in  order  to  discern  the  origin  of  such  visions.  One  day  one 
of  them  told  her  "that  they  plainly  came  from  the  devil." 
Since  the  vision  forced  itself  on  her  and  could  not  be  driven 
off,  she  must  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  whenever  it  ap- 
peared, and  treat  it  with  a  gesture  of  contempt.  We  can 
easily  surmise  Teresa's  anguish,  convinced  as  she  was  that 
the  vision  came  from  God  and  yet  bound  as  she  was  to 
obey  her  confessor.2     He  had,   indeed,  gone  too  far. 

Ten  years  later  Blessed  John  of  Avila,  after  an  examina- 
tion of  Teresa's  Life,  condemned  such  direction  :  "  Imagina- 
tive and  corporal  visions,"  he  wrote,  "  are  the  most  dubious. 
They  are  not  at  all  to  be  desired  :  we  must  escape  them  as 
far  as  we  can,  but  without  using  gestures  of  contempt, 
unless  the  intervention  of  the  evil  spirit  is  demonstrated. 
What  was  done  in  this  respect  really  horrified  me,  and  I  was 
grieved  by  it."3 

Finally,  Teresa  had  many  revelations.  God  spoke  to  her 
with  interior  words  which  revealed  the  future  or  made  hidden 
things  known  to  her  : 

1  Life,  chap,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  358.  These  visions  forced  them- 
selves upon  Teresa.  She  could  neither  have  them  at  will  nor  dismiss 
them  when  they  occurred. 

1  Life,  chap,  xxix,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  371-372. 

8  John  of  Avila's  letter  to  St  Teresa,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  160-161.  Cf. 
Foundations,  chap,  viii,  CEuvres,  III,  p.  136.  St  Teresa  also  saw  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  dove ;  she  contemplated  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Father's  bosom ;  she  had  a  vision  of  Purgatory,  which  many  souls  were 
leaving  [Life,  chap,  xxxviii).  She  saw  the  throne  of  God,  and  the  glory 
of  Mary  in  her  Assumption  [Life,  chap,  xxxix). 


1 64  Cbilstian  Spfrttualtt*? 

"  These  words,"  she  says,  "  are  perfectly  distinct,  but  they 
are  not  usually  heard  by  the  ears  of  the  body.  Yet  they  are 
much  more  clearly  perceived  than  if  they  were  audible,  and 
they  cannot  be  resisted ;  it  is  impossible  not  to  perceive 
them.  When  we  have  to  do  with  human  speech,  if  we 
do  not  want  to  hear  it  we  can  stop  our  ears  or  fix  our  atten- 
tion upon  something-  else,  so  as  not  to  understand  what  is 
said  to  us.  In  the  case  of  words  spoken  to  the  soul  by 
God,  everything-  is  vain ;  despite  ourselves,  we  are  obliged 
to  hearken,  and  our  mind  must  attend  to  what  God  is 
saying  to  it.  .  .  .  He  shows  that  he  is  our  real 
Master."1 

Teresa  heard  the  Saviour  so  often  that  he  became  to  her 
a  living  book  teaching  her  all  truth  : 

"  Once,"  she  says,  "  for  an  hour  and  more  our  Lord  stood 
close  to  me  and  revealed  marvellous  things  to  me."2 

Like  St  Paul,  in  her  raptures  she  was  given  to  contem- 
plate the  things  of  heaven,  and  she  was  powerless  to  express 
them  : 

"  One  evening  ...  I  was  seized,"  she  tells  us,  "  with  a 
rapture  of  irresistible  power.  I  seemed  to  be  transported 
into  heaven,  and  the  first  persons  I  saw  there  were  my  father 
and  mother.  In  the  space  of  an  Ave  Maria  I  saw  wonderful 
things.   .   .   . 

"  Since  then  I  have  happened — and  still  sometimes  happen 
— to  get  the  knowledge  of  yet  higher  secrets.  But  the  soul 
has  neither  the  means  nor  the  possibility  of  seeing  anything 
beyond  what  is  shown  it.  .  .  .  Such  were  these  marvels 
that  the  least  of  them  was  enough  to  strike  my  soul  with 
admiration,  and  to  help  it  to  make  great  progress  in  for- 
getting and  despising  the  things  of  earth.  I  should  like  to 
give  some  idea  of  what  was  least  lofty  in  the  knowledge  then 
imparted  to  me,  but  it  is  in  vain  to  try  to  do  so,  and  I  see 
that  it  is  impossible."3 

Many  events  were  foretold  to  her  when  in  prayer,  some- 
times two  years  beforehand.  She  always  saw  them  ful- 
filled. In  particular,  she  had  several  revelations  as  to  the 
Carmelite  reform.  Three  years  before  anyone  ever  spoke  of 
it,  she  knew  she  was  to  found  the  first  monastery  of  Dis- 
calced  Carmelites  at  Avila.4 

Although  St  Teresa  was  certain  that  these  revelations 
came  from  God,  she  had  them  supervised  by  her  confessor, 
especially  when  they  concerned  things  to  be  done  :  "  To  act 

1  Life,  chap,  xxv,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  311-312.  The  Spiritual  Relations 
specially  abound  in  our  Lord's  instructions,  encouragements,  and 
reprimands  addressed  to  St  Teresa. 

2  Life,  chap,  xxxviii,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  103. 
8  Life,  chap,  xxxviii,  ibid.,  pp.  101-102. 

*  Relations  III  and  LIII,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  220-277. 


Saint  XTeresa  165 

otherwise,  and  to  be  led  in  such  circumstances  by  one's  own 
feelings,  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  dangerous  thing."1 

When  St  Teresa's  mystical  training  was  finished,  God 
granted  her  the  signal  favour  of  spiritual  marriage.  In  the 
middle  of  November,  1572,  "in  the  Octave  of  St  Martin," 
the  Saviour  appeared  to  her  and  said  :  From  to-day  thou 
shalt  be  my  spouse:  hitherto  thou  hast  not  merited  it.  .  .  ."2 
Teresa  tells  us  in  what  this  supernatural  favour  consisted  so 
far  as  she  was  concerned  :  it  lasted  till  her  death. 

5.   The  Spiritual  Marriage3 

The  celebration  of  the  spiritual  marriage  takes  place  in 
the  innermost  Mansion,  the  "  centre  of  the  soul,"  of  which 
mystics  have  so  much  to  say. 

"  This  mysterious  union  takes  place  in  the  innermost 
centre  of  the  soul,  which  is,  I  think,"  says  St  Teresa,  "  the 
dwelling-place  of  God  himself,  and  into  which,  according  to 
me,  he  enters  without  going  through  any  doorway.  If  I  say 
that  no  door  is  needed,  it  is  because,  in  the  other  graces 
which  I  have  described,  the  senses  and  the  powers  are  in 
some  sense  used  as  intermediaries.  .  .  .  What  takes  place 
in  the  union  of  the  spiritual  marriage  is  very  different.  The 
Lord  appears  in  the  centre  of  the  soul  without  any  imagina- 
tive vision,  but  by  means  of  an  intellectual  vision  still  more 
refined  than  those  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  in  the  same 
way  as  he  appeared  to  the  apostles  without  passing  through 
doors  when  he  said  to  them  :  Pax  vobis.  ...  At  this 
moment  the  Lord  condescends  to  show  the  soul  the  beatitude 
of  heaven  in  a  way  the  sublimity  of  which  surpasses  that 
of  all  other  visions  and  of  all  the  spiritual  tastes."4 

In  raptures  and  in  the  prayer  of  union  "  the  soul  did  not 
feel  itself  called  to  enter  into  its  own  centre  with  the  power 
that  invites  it  thereto  in  this  Mansion  :  it  was  attracted  only 
in  its  higher  part."5 

The  feeling  of  the  union  of  the  centre  of  the  soul  with 
God  is  permanent  in  the  spiritual  marriage.  This  is  what 
differentiates  this  degree  of  prayer  from  all  the  rest  in  which 
the  union  is  conscious  only  from  time  to  time.  The  other 
graces  of  prayer  are  like  "  spiritual  betrothals  "  in  which  the 
favour  of  union  is  not  at  all  permanent.  "  In  the  spiritual 
marriage,"    says  Teresa,    "  it    is    quite    otherwise :    the    soul 

1  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  193. 

2  Relation  XXV,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  246. 

3  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion. 

4  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  285-286. 

5  ibid.,  chap,  i,  p.  279.  In  her  Life,  chap,  xl,  Teresa  relates  that 
she  saw  her  soul  in  the  fashion  of  a  clear  mirror.  In  the  centre  of  it 
was  our  Lord,  CEuvres,  II,  p.  144. 


1 66  Cbrfettan  Spirituality 

abides  always  with  God,  in  the  centre  of  which  I  have 
spoken."  God  is  so  closely  united  with  the  soul  that  he 
makes  it  one  spirit  with  himself. 

"  All  that  we  can  say  of  it,"  observes  St  Teresa,  "  is  that 
the  soul,  or  rather  its  spirit,  becomes,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  entirely  one  with  God.  .  .  .  Perhaps  this  is  what  St 
Paul  meant  when  he  said  :  He  who  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is 
one  spirit  (i  Cor.  vi,  17),  and  desired  to  speak  of  this 
sublime  marriage,  which  assumes  that  the  Lord  has  already 
drawn  close  to  the  soul  by  union."1 

St  Teresa  carefully  avoids,  both  in  her  words  and  in  her 
comparisons,  anything  like  pantheism,  when  she  is  speak- 
ing of  this  very  close  union.  It  is  wonderful  to  hear  her 
describe  this  lofty  and  little-known  mystical  experience  with 
such   ease  and   justness  and  clarity. 

This  permanent  union  of  the  soul  with  God  is  also  much 
more  conscious  than  the  passing  union  of  the  states  of 
prayer  prior  to  the  spiritual  marriage. 

"  Hitherto,"  says  St  Teresa,  "  when  the  Lord  united  my 
soul  with  himself,  he  made  it  blind  and  dumb,  as  St  Paul 
was  at  the  time  of  his  conversion.  He  thus  deprived  it  of 
the  means  of  knowing  what  was  the  favour  that  it  enjoyed 
and  how  it  enjoyed  it.  The  immense  delight  felt  by  the  soul 
when  thus  flooded  came  from  the  fact  that  it  saw  that  it  was 
close  to  its  God ;  but  at  the  very  moment  when  it  found  itself 
united  with  him,  it  had  no  kind  of  knowledge  at  all,  for  its 
powers  were  altogether  lost. 

"  Here  it  is  quite  otherwise.  It  pleases  our  God,  in  his 
goodness,  to  take  away  the  scales  from  the  eyes  of  the  soul, 
so  that  it  may  understand,  but  in  an  extraordinary  way, 
something  of  the  favour  with  which  he  gratifies  it."2 

According  to  St  Teresa,  in  the  mystical  marriage  the  soul 
enjoys  an   intellectual  vision  of  the  Blessed  Trinity:3 

"  Once  [the  soul]  has  entered  into  this  Mansion,  the  three 
Persons  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity,  in  an  intellectual  vision, 
discover  themselves  to  it  by  a  certain  representation  of  the 
truth,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  kindling  fire,  which,  like  a 
resplendent  cloud,  comes  right  into  its  spirit.  The  three 
divine  Persons  are  shown  to  be  distinct,  and  by  a  wonderful 
notion  which  is  imparted  to  it,  the  soul  knows  with  an  abso- 
lute certainty  that  all  the  three  are  of  one  substance,  one 
power,  one  knowledge,  and  one  God.     Just  as  we  believe  by 

1  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  286-287.  St 
Teresa  calls  "  the  centre  of  the  soul  "  or  "  the  spirit  of  the  soul  "  what 
other  mystics  call  the  "  bottom  of  the  soul  "  or  "  the  apex  of  the  soul." 
It  is  the  most  spiritual  part  of  the  soul,  wherein  God  unites  with  it. 

2  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  279. 

8  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  i ;  Spiritual  Relations,  XIV,  XV, 
XXII,  XLI,  XLII,  XLIII,  LIV,  LXVI. 


Saint  Ueresa  167 

faith,  so  does  the  soul,  as  we  may  say,  perceive  by  sight. 
And  yet  we  see  nothing  either  with  the  eyes  of  the  body  or 
of  the  soul,  because  here  is  no  imaginative  vision.  Then 
all  three  divine  Persons  communicate  themselves  to  the  soul, 
speak  to  it  and  reveal  to  it  the  meaning  of  the  passage  of 
the  Gospel  in  which  our  Lord  says  that  he  will  come  with 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  to  dwell  in  the  soul  who 
loves  him  and  keeps  his  commandments."1 

Have  we  here  to  do  with  a  vision,  properly  so  called,  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity?  Certain  expressions  used  by  Teresa 
would  lead  us  to  think  so.  Moreover,  she  takes  care  to 
distinguish  this  "  vision  "  of  the  divine  Persons  from  the 
simple,  yet  very  perfect,  knowledge  which  she  had  before 
of  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  of  which  she  speaks  in  her 
Life:2 

"  One  day,  while  I  was  reciting  the  Psalm  (Creed) 
Quicumque  vult,  I  was  given  to  understand  how  there  was 
one  God  in  three  Persons,  and  that  so  clearly  that  I  was 
filled  with  wonder  and  joy.  .  .  .  Now,  when  I  think  of  the 
most  Holy  Trinity  or  hear  it  spoken  of,  I  seem  to  under- 
stand how  this  mystery  is  possible,  and  it  gives  me  great 
consolation." 

But  in  the  spiritual  marriage,  on  many  occasions  Teresa 
speaks  not  of  simple  knowledge,  but  of  "  seeing "  the 
presence  of  God  within  her.  "  The  sight  of  this  divine 
presence,"  she  says,  "  is  not  always  so  complete."  It  is 
intermittent,  "  otherwise  it  would  not  be  possible  to  do  any- 
thing else,  or  even  to  live  among  men."3  What  Teresa  says 
is  not  easily  explained  if  we  have  to  do  merely  with  an 
infused  divine  light,  and  not  with  a  vision  properly  so  called. 

But  this  "  sight "  of  God  does  not  hinder  Teresa  from 
action  because  it  is  not  constant.  Her  soul  is  continuously 
in  close  union  with  God,  and  at  the  same  time  she  gives 
herself  up  to  external  occupations  : 

"  You  will  perhaps  think,"  she  says  to  her  nuns,  "  that 
this  soul  is  as  it  were  beside  herself  and  in  such  a  transport 
that  she  cannot  do  anything  at  all.  It  is  just  the  contrary  : 
she  finds  it  much  easier  than  before  to  take  part  in  all  that 
has  to  do  with  the  service  of  God."4 

While  in  this  state  there  were  two  operations  going  on  in 

1  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  279-280.  St 
Teresa's  vision  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  was  not  permanent,  but  the 
feeling  that  the  divine  Persons  were  in  her  did  not  leave  her  (p.  281). 

1  Chap,  xxxix,  CEuvres,  II,  pp.  139-140. 

a  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  284.  Cf.  Relation  XIV, 
CEuvres,  II,  p.  236.  Relation  XLII,  p.  265  :  "  One  day  when  I  was 
enjoying  the  presence  of  the  three  divine  Persons,  whom  I  bear  in 
my  soul,  the  light  in  which  I  saw  them  within  me  was  so  clear  that  I 
could  not  doubt  that  the  living  and  true  God  was  really  there." 

*  Castle,  ibid. 


1 68  Cbristian  Spirituality 

Teresa.  "  Her  soul  appeared  to  her  to  be  in  some  fashion 
divided  "  :  one  part  enjoyed  the  presence  of  God,  and  the 
other  was  "  grappling  with  a  great  number  of  trials  and 
occupations  "  I1 

"  This  may  seem  to  you  to  be  an  extravagance,"  she  said 
to  her  daughters,  "  and  nevertheless  it  really  happens  to  be 
so.  Clearly,  the  soul  is  one.  However,  what  I  have  just 
said  is  not  mere  imagination ;  it  is  a  very  ordinary  state. 
This  is  why  I  said  above  that  certain  interior  effects  make 
it  certain  that  in  some  respects  there  is  a  very  real  difference 
between  the  soul  and  the  spirit.  Although  in  reality  they 
make  but  one,  we  sometimes  perceive  a  division  between 
them,  and  it  is  so  fine  that  one  of  them  works  in  one  way 
and  the  other  in  another,  according  to  the  different  taste 
which  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  give  them.  I  think,  too,  that 
the  soul  differs  from  the  powers,  that  it  is  not  one  and  the 
same  thing  as  these."2 

Mysticism,  indeed,  opens  out  many,  and  some  unsuspected, 
vistas  to  the  Christian  philosopher  ! 

The  spiritual  marriage  is  destined  to  give  rise  to  much 
work  for  the  glory  of  God  and  for  the  salvation  of  our  neigh- 
bour. 3  Whoever  is  favoured  with  it  overflows  with  activity 
in  the  service  of  our  divine  Master. 

Teresa  was  the  Prioress  of  the  Convent  of  the  Incarnation 
of  Avila  in  1572,  when  she  was  raised  to  this  high  spiritual 
state.  She  had  begun  her  foundations  :  she  was  yet  to 
bring  into  being  nine  new  monasteries.  What  ardour  did 
she  display  !  "  This  mistress  of  mystical  knowledge,  accus- 
tomed to  the  regions  of  contemplation  and  ecstasy  .  .  . 
deals  with  affairs,  she  begs,  negotiates,  organizes,  and  with 
what  skill,  practical  good  sense,  perseverance,  and  success  ! 
Everywhere  she  makes  friends,  and  what  devoted  ones !" 
When  she  travels  alone  or  with  one  or  two  companions  she 
makes  long  journeys  on  mules  or  donkeys,  but  more  often 
in  lumbering  conveyances,  in  which  it  is  baking  in  summer 
and  freezing  in  winter.  And  how  picturesque  are  these 
travels  !  How  tragic  or  merely  diverting  are  the  happen- 
ings !  You  should  read  the  Foundations  with  its  lively 
account  of  them  adorned  with  unexpected  episodes.  The 
description  of  the  inns  of  those  days,  where  the  Carmelites 
had  to  take  refreshment  or  pass  the  night,  is  most  enliven- 
ing. Amidst  the  incidents,  the  perils,  the  privations,  the 
fatigues,  the  holy  mother  and  her  daughters  are  inviolably 
faithful  to  the  minutest  prescriptions  of  the  monastic  life. 
And  when,  after  hearing  Mass  and  communicating,  they  set 

1  Castle,  ibid.,  p.  282. 

2  Castle,  ibid.,  p.  283. 

3  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  iv,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  308. 


Saint  XTeresa  169 

forth  on  their  way,  the  hours  of  prayer  and  silence  are 
strictly  observed,  thanks  to  a  little  bell  which  they  had 
brought   for  the  purpose.1 

If  one  part  of  St  Teresa's  soul  was  in  heaven,  united  to 
God,  the  other  was  surely  on  earth,  and  played  a  wonderful 
part  thereon,  with  a  keen  sense  of  its  realities. 


In  the  last  chapters  of  the  Interior  Castle  Teresa  makes 
known  the  new  life  of  the  soul  after  the  spiritual  marriage.2 

It  is  totally  forgetful  of  itself;  it  is  "entirely  devoted  to 
procuring-  the  glory  of  God."  It  has  "  an  immense  desire  of 
suffering."  If  it  is  the  victim  of  persecution,  it  feels  the 
keenest  joy  within.  It  no  longer  wishes  to  die  to  enter  into 
the  joy  of  our  Lord,  but  desires  to  "  live  many  a  year  amidst 
sharp  trials  "  to  procure  God's  glory  and  the  salvation  of 
souls.3 

Such  were,  indeed,  the  feelings  of  Teresa  during  the  per- 
secution of  the  Carmelites  from  1575  to  1579,  a  persecution 
stirred  up  by  the  Mitigated  Carmelites,  which  very  nearly 
ruined  the  work  of  the  reform  : 

"  This  grieved  me  incomparably  more,"  she  said,  "  than 
my  personal  sufferings,  which,  truth  to  tell,  gave  me  rather 
a  real  joy.  I  looked  on  myself  as  the  cause  of  all  the  tor- 
ment, and  it  seemed  to  me  that  if  I  were  cast  into  the  sea, 
like  Jonas,  the  tempest  would  be  stilled."4 

Calm  was  restored,  thanks  to  the  intervention  of  Philip  II. 

The  wonderful  delights  experienced  by  the  soul  in  the 
spiritual  marriage  nevertheless  suffer  passing  eclipse  at 
times.  Teresa  thought  that  in  the  Seventh  Mansion  of 
the  Castle  "  one  hardly  ever  met  with  dryness  or  with  the 
interior  troubles  that  occur  at  certain  moments  in  all  the 
rest.  "5  Nevertheless,  when  she  founded  the  monastery  of 
Segovia  in  1574,  two  years  after  she  had  been  raised  to  the 
mystical  marriage,  she  experienced  "  interior  pains "  from 
which  she  "  suffered  through  dryness  and  a  profound  spiritual 

1  CEuvres,  III,  pp.  6  ff.,  Introduction  to  the  Foundations. 

2  Teresa  also  describes  this  new  life  in  several  of  her  Relations, 
particularly  in  the  LXVIth  :  "  My  soul  enjoys  an  ineffable  peace,"  she 
says.  She  also  alludes  to  the  spiritual  marriage  in  some  of  her  Letters. 
In  detail  they  do  not  always  agree  with  the  last  chapters  of  the  Castle. 
Thus,  in  chapter  iii  of  the  Seventh  Mansion,  Teresa  declares  that  in 
the  spiritual  marriage  "  the  soul  has  no  more  raptures  .  .  .  transports 
and  flights  of  the  spirit."  But  in  her  letter  of  January  17,  1577,  to  her 
brother,  Laurence,  she  complains  of  having  repeated  irresistible 
raptures.     Cf.  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  30-31. 

*  Cf.  Relation  LXVI,  CEuvres,  II,  323. 

4  Foundations,  chap,  xxviii,  CEuvres,  IV,  p.  97. 

*  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  299.  Cf.  p.  296  : 
"  They  (these  souls)  have  no  dryness  nor  interior  pains." 


17°  Cbristian  Spirituality 

darkness."1  She  also  taught  that  the  soul,  "  when  it  has 
become  one  with  the  mighty  God  by  this  sovereign  union  of 
spirit  with  spirit,"  participates  in  his  might.2  And  yet, 
when  she  was  busy  with  her  last  foundations  from  1574  to 
1580,  she  often  notes  her  impotence  and  moral  dejection,  and 
even   her  pusillanimity.3 

However  perfect  be  the  state  of  the  soul  which  has  reached 
the  Seventh  Mansion,  it  is  not  exempt  from  all  wretched- 
ness, nor  is  it  there  more  sure  of  its  salvation  nor  "  protected 
from  all  relapse."1 

In  spite  of  that,  there  is  nothing  higher  on  earth  than 
"  the  effects  wrought  by  God  in  the  soul  when  he  unites  it 
to  himself  by  the  kiss  asked  for  by  the  Spouse.  In  my 
view,"  says  Teresa,  "  this  is  when  the  favour  she  implored 
is  granted  to  her.  This  is  when  the  wounded  dove  stanches 
her  thirst  with  the  living  waters.  This  is  when  she  is  filled 
with  delights  in  the  tabernacle  of  God.  This  is  when  the 
dove  sent  forth  by  Noe  to  see  if  the  storm  is  over  finds  her 
olive-branch  to  show  that  she  has  found  dry  land  amidst  the 
deluge  and  the  tempests  of  this  world.  O  Jesus,  would  that 
I  knew  enough  passages  of  Scripture,  for  they  would  surely 
describe  this  peace  of  the  soul  for  us  !"5 

IV— ST   TERESA'S   ASCETIC    TEACHING— THE 
RELIGIOUS  VIRTUES  OF  THE   CARMELITE  NUN 

It  would-be  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  St  Teresa  wrote 
of  nothing  but  mysticism.  She  generally  wrote  for  her  nuns, 
and  she  knew  that  they  were  not  all  raised  to  mystical  states. 
Her  quick  sense  of  realities  warned  her  that  to  desire  to 
urge  them  on  to  mysticism  off-hand  or  indiscriminately  would 
mean  falling  into  that  very  illuminism  which  was  so  much 
combated  in  Spain.  She  recommends  them  to  follow  the 
ordinary  spiritual  ways  until  it  please  God,  if  he  think  right, 
to  make  them  take  another  path. 


According  to  St  Teresa,  perfection  is  not  to  be  found  in 
extraordinary  states,  but  in  the  full  and  entire  conformity 
of  man's  will  with  God's  : 

"  Sovereign   perfection,"    she   says,    "  does   not   consist   in 

1  Foundations,  chap,  xxi,  (Euvres,  III,  p.  279.  In  her  letter  of 
January  17,  1577,  to  her  brother,  Laurence,  she  notifies  an  intense 
aridity,  which  lasted  a  whole  week. 

2  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  iv,  p.  310. 

3  Foundations,  chaps,  xxv,  xxviii,  xxix,  (Euvres,  IV,  pp.  50,  103, 
130  ff. 

*  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  ii,  p.  290. 

5  Castle,  ibid.,  chap,  iii,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  301. 


Saint  XTeresa  171 

interior  consolations,  nor  in  sublime  raptures,  nor  in  visions, 
nor  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  It  consists  in  making  our  will 
conform  with  God's,  so  that,  as  soon  as  we  know  that  he 
wills  a  thing,  we  set  our  whole  will  to  it ;  so  that  we  finally 
accept  with  the  same  joy  the  sweet  and  the  bitter,  as  soon 
as  we  know  the  good  pleasure  of  his  Majesty.  .  .  .  Such  is 
the  power  of  perfect  love  that  it  makes  us  forget  to  please 
self  in  order  to  please  him  who  loves  us."1 

"  To  make  our  will  one  with  God's  will,"  such  is  "  real 
union  "  far  to  be  preferred  to  mystical  states  : 

"  Such  is  the  union  that  I  desire  for  myself,"  says  Teresa, 
"  and  such  is  that  which  I  would  see  all  of  you  possess 
rather  than  the  delightful  transports,  no  doubt  deservedly 
called  "  union,"  if  they  are  preceded  by  that  of  which  I 
have  just  spoken.  But  if,  after  the  suspension  is  over,  we 
have  little  obedience  and  much  self-will,  then  in  my  opinion 
our  union  will  have  been  with  our  own  self-love  and  not 
with  the  will  of  God."2 

What  is  "  the  readiest  and  the  most  effective  way  of 
attaining  this  happy  state"?  Prayer?  No.  Teresa  answers 
without  hesitation  :  Obedience.  Father  Gratian,  the  censor 
of  her  works,  appears  to  be  quite  surprised  at  this.  And 
yet,  how  right  the  saint  was  !  For  our  own  will  to  be  sub- 
ject to  God's,  it  must  renounce  itself  by  obedience  which 
subjects  it  to  our  reason  and  our  reason  to  God. 3  Thus  do 
we  offer  God  "  a  pure  will  which  he  can  unite  with  his  own." 
And  so  we  beg  him  "  to  send  from  heaven  the  fire  of  his 
love  to  consume  this  sacrifice  and  to  strip  it  of  all  that  may 
be  displeasing  unto  him.  We,  indeed,  have  done  all  that 
lies  in  our  power  :  at  the  cost  of  innumerable  efforts  we 
have  laid  the  victim  upon  the  altar,  and,  as  far  as  we  are 
able  to  prevent  it,  it  no  longer  has  anything  to  do  with  this 
world."4 

Such  obedience  must  appear  especially  in  the  use  of 
spiritual  direction  : 

1  Foundations,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  III,  pp.  103-104.  Cf.  Castle, 
Second  Mansion  :  "  The  sole  ambition  of  one  who  begins  the  way  of 
prayer  .  .  .  should  be  to  work  courageously  to  bring  his  will  into 
conformity  with  the  will  of  God  .  .  .  therein  consists  the  whole  of  the 
highest  perfection  to  be  attained  in  the  spiritual  way.  .  .  ."  CEuvres, 
VI,  p.  74.  Cf.  p.  92  :  "  Perfection  does  not  consist  in  tastes,  but  in 
love  and  in  works  wrought  according  to  justice  and  truth." 

1  Foundations,  ibid.,  p.  106.  Note  that  St  Teresa  wrote  this  in 
1573,  when  she  had  been  raised  to  the  state  of  the  mystical  marriage. 
Cf.  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  v  :  "  The  first  stone  of  the  [spiritual] 
building  is  a  good  conscience,  the  careful  avoidance  of  all  sins,  even 
venial,  and  aiming  at  what  is  most  perfect."  CEuvres,  V,  p.  65.  See 
Foundations,  chap,  xxxii,  pp.  233  ff. 

*  Foundations,  ibid.,  iii,  pp.   104-105. 

4  ibid.,   105-106. 


172  Christian  Spirituality 

"  Even  those  alien  to  the  religious  life,"  says  St  Teresa, 
"  will  find  it  most  helpful  to  follow,  as  many  do,  the  advice 
of  a  guide  in  order  to  do  nothing  of  their  own  self-will ;  for 
that  is  ordinarily  the  cause  of  their  ruin."1 

And  in  order  to  renounce  their  own  self-will  the  more 
surely,  they  ought  not  to  look  for  a  director  "  who  is,  as  the 
saying-  goes,  one  of  their  own  kidney." 

But  it  is,  above  all,  when  we  make  progress  in  the  ways 
of  prayer  that  "  we  must  submit  to  the  leading  of  a  guide."2 
Teresa  constantly  repeats  it.  She  obeyed  her  confessors 
even  when  convinced  that  they  were  mistaken.  Hence  she 
is  all  the  readier  in  demanding  that  directors  should  be  as 
experienced  as  possible  in  the  spiritual  ways,  and,  in  any 
case,  that  they  should  have  a  wide  knowledge  of  theology 
and  enough  independence  of  mind  not  to  be  influenced  by 
the  disparagers  of  mystical  states.3 

Openness  with  one's  director  is  essential.*  He  must  be 
told  of  our  temptations,  imperfections,  and  repugnances  in 
order  to  give  counsel  and  suggest  means  of  overcoming 
them. 

Those  in  the  way  of  prayer  "  usually  have  much  affection 
for  their  spiritual  guide,  when  they  see  that  he  is  holy  and 
feel  that  he  understands  them."  St  Teresa  advises  such 
people  "  not  to  worry  whether  they  have  or  have  not  affec- 
tion towards  him."  In  her  opinion,  "  such  affection  may 
conduce  to  our  making  great  progress,  if  the  confessor  is 
holy  and  spiritual  and  tries  to  help  the  soul  forward."  But 
if  the  confessor  has  not  these  qualities,  "  it  might  be  dan- 
gerous, and  if  he  knew  of  one's  affection  for  him,  much 
harm  might  follow."  The  safest  way,  then,  is  to  have  a 
talk  with  another  confessor  and  to  act  upon  his  advice.5 

Christ  has  given  us  the  Eucharist  to  help  us  to  submit  our 
wills  fully  to  the  will  of  God.  "  In  fact,  he  abides  with  us 
[in  the  Blessed  Sacrament]  only  in  order  to  help  us  and  to 
encourage  us  to  do  the  divine  will  which  we  have  asked  to 

1  Castle,  Third  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  pp.  93-94. 

2  Life,  chap,  xiii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  165.  Cf.  I,  pp.  175,  176,  240,  291, 
321,  331  ;  II,  pp.  146,  147.  Teresa  demands  the  greatest  freedom  for 
direction.  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  64  ff ;  chap, 
xviii,  p.  143.  By  following  a  capable  confessor,  "  more  progress  is 
made  in  one  year  than  would  otherwise  be  made  in  a  great  many." 

3  See  especially:  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  v;  Life,  CEuvres,  I,  78, 
79,  91,  173,  256,  366;  II,  44-45,  146,  289.  Interior  Castle,  CEuvres,  VI, 
p.  94,  102,  133,  246,  247. 

*  Counsel:  "  Try  to  speak  of  the  things  of  your  soul  with  a  spiritual 
and  learned  confessor.  Be  open  with  him  and  follow  his  counsel  in 
everything."     CEuvres,  V,  481.     See  p.  476. 

5  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  iv,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  60-63  (various  read- 
ings from  the  Escurial  MS.). 


Saint  XLcvcsa  173 

be  done  within  us,"1  in  the  fiat  voluntas  tua  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer. 

St  Teresa  liked  to  remind  her  nuns  how  invaluable  for  the 
sanctification  of  the  soul  are  the  moments  that  follow  upon 
Holy  Communion  : 

"  Then,  after  you  have  just  received  our  Lord,"  she  said, 
"  and  have  his  very  Person  present  within  you,  close  the 
eyes  of  your  body  and  open  those  of  the  soul  and  look  into 
your  heart.  .  .  .  We  know  that,  as  long-  as  our  natural 
heat  has  not  consumed  the  accidents  of  the  bread,  the  good 
Jesus  is  in  us.  .  .  .  How  should  we  doubt  that,  being  in 
our  house,  he  will  grant  us  what  we  ask  of  him?  His 
Majesty  is  not  wont  to  pay  poorly  for  his  sojourn  at  the 
inn  of  our  soul,  when  he  receives  a  good  welcome  therein."2 

It  is  for  the  confessor  to  regulate  the  frequency  of  our 
communions.  On  this  point  Teresa  gave  her  nuns  very 
definite  counsels  : 

"  Those  who  approach  our  Lord  so  frequently,"  she 
observes,  "  must  be  so  convinced  of  their  unworthiness  as 
not  to  do  it  of  themselves.  An  order  under  obedience  must 
come  to  make  good  our  deficiencies  for  approaching  so 
august  a  Master,  and,  indeed,  in  how  many  things  are  we 
lacking  !"3 


If  we  make  good  use  of  our  communions  and  other  means 
of  sanctification,  we  shall  make  rapid  strides  in  the  practice 
of  virtue. 

Christian  virtues,  these  again,  and  not  extraordinary  kinds 
of  prayer,  make  sanctity. 

"  More  to  be  praised,"  says  Teresa,  "  are  those  marked 
with  humility,  mortification,  and  obedience  than  the  nuns 
led  by  God  in  altogether  supernatural  ways  of  prayer,  even 
were  they  adorned  moreover  with  the  same  virtues."4 

Spiritual  consolations  of  contemplatives,  "  though  good, 
are  not  always  perfect,  and  there  is  always  more  security  in 
humility,  mortification,  detachment,  and  the  other  virtues. 
So  fear  nothing,"  Teresa  told  her  daughters,  "  and  say  to 
yourselves  that  you  will  not  fail  to  reach  perfection  as  well 
as  the  great  contemplatives."5 

1  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxxiv,  CEuvres,  V,  247. 

2  ibid.,  pp.  252,  254. 

s  Foundations,  chap,  vi,  CEuvres,  III,  p.  123. 

«  ibid.,  chap,  viii,  p.   141.     Cf.  Etchegoyen,  of.  at.,  pp.   in  ff. 

8  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xvii,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  135.  See  chap,  xviii, 
p.  142  :  We  must  not  consider  whether  we  have  "  more  spiritual  tastes 
in  prayer,  more  raptures,  visions,  and  other  favours  of  that  kind  which 
God  sometimes  gives  to  souls.  To  know  the  value  of  such  goods  we 
must  wait  for  the  next  life.  .  .   .     But  there  is  a  current  coinage,  a  saft 


174  Cbristtati  Spirituality 

A  good  treatise  on  the  virtues  of  Christians  and  religious 
might  be  extracted  from  the  works  of  St  Teresa. 

We  know  her  definition  of  humility,  which  "  is  nothing  else 
than  walking  in  the  truth."  The  spiritual  building  is  founded 
"  entirely  "  upon  it.  "  The  nearer  we  come  to  God  the  more 
must  this  virtue  increase;  and,  if  it  be  otherwise,  all  is 
lost."1  Humility  is  intimately  connected  with  self-know- 
ledge, in  which  we  must  train  ourselves,  especially  in  the 
First  Mansion  of  the  Castle,  "  before  starting  off  on  our 
flight  towards  the  others,  for  it  is  the  way  that  leads  to 
them."2  When  we  know  what  we  are  worth  we  do  not 
want  to  be  proud  of  it,  and  if  we  would,  we  could  not. 

Do  you  want,  St  Teresa  asked  her  nuns,  "  to  know  your 
degree  of  progress"  in  the  spiritual  life?  "Let  each  one 
consider  whether  she  esteems  herself  as  the  most  contemptible 
of  all,  and  if  she  translates  her  conviction  into  practice."3 

Again  it  is  humility  that  protects  mystics  from  the  wiles 
of  the  devil,  and  helps  them  to  turn  to  advantage  the  super- 
natural graces  granted  to  them  : 

"  If  there  is  humility,"  says  Teresa,  "  a  vision  proceeding 
from  the  devil  can  do  no  harm  ;  but  if  humility  be  wanting, 
a  vision  from  God  will  do  no  good.  Indeed,  when  a  soul 
receives  a  grace  meant  to  increase  humility,  and  glories  in  it 
instead,  acknowledging  her  unworthiness  of  it,  she  is  like 
the  spider  which  changes  whatever  it  eats  into  poison, 
instead  of  imitating  the  bee,  which  turns  everything  into 
honey.*   .   .   .     Humility  is  like  the  bee."5 

Besides,  humility  is  not  pusillanimity.  Teresa  very  often 
condemns  "  false  humility,"  which,  on  pretence  of  unworthi- 
ness, would  refuse  divine  favours  or  check  any  desire  for 
them. 6 

St  Clare  of  Assisi  would  have  liked  to  enclose  her  monas- 
teries in  the  high  walls  of  humility  and  poverty.  Teresa, 
with  her  great  love  of  humility,  also  regarded  poverty  as 
one  of  the  strongest  ramparts,  one  of  the  stoutest  supports 
of  the  Carmelite  reform  : 

"  Everywhere  let  us  have  poverty,"  she  said  to  her 
daughters,  "  in  our  house,  in  our  clothes,  in  our  words,  and 

return,  a  perpetual  revenue.  ...  I  mean  to  refer  to  deep  humility, 
complete  mortification,  perfect  obedience  to  the  least  wish  of  our 
superior.  .  .  ." 

1  Life,  chap,  xii,  CEuvres,  I,  p.  159.  Cf.  Castle,  Sixth  Mansion, 
chap.x. 

2  Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  CEuvres,  VI,  56. 

3  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xviii,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  142. 

4  Foundations,  chap,  viii,  CEuvres,  III,  137. 
6   Castle,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  55. 

8  Way  of  Perfection,  V,  203,  204,  283,  284;  Life,  I,  97,  105,  120,  136, 
etc.;   Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap,  ii,  VI,  p.  57. 


Saint  XTeresa  175 

much  more  in  our  thoughts.  As  long-  as  you  do  thus,  be  not 
afraid  :  with  God's  help,  religious  perfection  will  not  decay 
in  such  a  convent."1 

"  Our  arms  are  holy  poverty,"  she  is  fond  of  repeating-. 
She  wants  her  religious  who  have  renounced  the  possession 
of  incomes  also  to  renounce  "  all  anxieties  as  to  maintenance, 
otherwise  all  were  lost."  It  is  the  heavenly  Spouse  who 
will  provide  for  their  needs  : 

"  The  less  the  convent  has  of  necessaries,  the  more  calm 
am  I,"  she  affirmed,  "  and  our  Lord  knows  well  that  I  am 
more  troubled  when  we  have  what  is  considerably  more  than 
we  need  than  when  we  run  short  of  something."2 

This  passionate  lover  of  poverty  sings  the  praises  of  her 
beloved  virtue  in  the  fashion  of  St  Francis  of  Assisi.  She 
wanted  to  be  "  not  poor  in  spirit,"  as  her  profession  required, 
"but  mad  in  spirit."  She  loved  "holy  poverty"  madly,  as 
the  story  of  her  foundations  proves.  She  sees  an  epitome 
of  the  other  virtues  in  poverty  : 

"  Poverty  in  spirit  is  a  good  that  includes  in  itself  all  the 
other  goods  of  this  world.  Yes,  I  repeat  it,  you  become  the 
master  of  all  the  goods  of  this  world  by  despising  them. 
.  .  .  True  poverty  .  .  .  bears  a  dignity  which  impresses 
everyone.  It  has  not  to  please  anyone  but  God ;  but  because 
it  needs  no  one,  it  is  sure  to  have  many  friends.3 .  .  .  There 
is  always  more  of  the  interior  spirit  and  even  more  inward 
cheerfulness  when  there  is  a  lack  of  corporal  comforts  than 
when  you  find  yourself  liberally  and  comfortably  housed."4 

Poverty  is  not  the  only  virtue  in  which  the  Carmelite 
should  excel.  In  exhorting  her  religious  to  the  observance 
of  the  Rule,  Teresa  insists  upon  "  detachment  from  every- 
thing created."  She  requires  renunciation  of  one's  family, 
of  oneself,  one's  comfort,  and  even  of  one's  health.  The 
austerities  of  the  Rule,  which  are  great  among  the  reformed 
Carmelites,  are  to  be  welcomed  with  joy.5 

The  Carmelites  live  in  community.  Hence,  they  specially 
need  mutual  love  to  bear  with  one  another.  When  we  live 
side  by  side,  jars  are  frequent.  Little  occurrences  in  the 
community  are  apt  to  take  exaggerated  importance  in  a 
woman's  mind.  Teresa  gives  very  wise  counsels  on  the  sub- 
ject. Fraternal  charity  is  the  great  remedy  for  the  diffi- 
culties arising  from  the  common  life.  "  Indeed,  there  is 
nothing  vexatious  that  is  not  easily  borne  by  those  who  love 
one  another,  and  a  thing  must  be  very  hard  indeed  if  it  is 
to  provoke  indignation."8 

1  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  ii,  V,  p.  42. 

2  Way  of  Perfection,  ibid.,  pp.  38-39. 

8  ibid.,  pp.  40-41.     Cf.  chap,  xxxviii,  pp.  280-282. 

*  Foundations,  chap  xiv,  CEuvres,  III,  p.   188.      Cf.  pp.  208-209. 
5  Way  of  Perfection,  chaps,  viii-xii. 

•  ibid.,  chap,  iv,  V,  p.  55.     Cf.  Castle,  First  Mansion,  chap.  ii. 


176  Christian  Spirituality 

Let  them,  then,  keep  the  commandment  to  love  one 
another.  "  But,  either  from  excess  or  from  defect,  we  do 
not  succeed  in  practising-  it  to  perfection."  From  excess, 
when  we  let  ourselves  drift  into  particular  friendships  which 
are  "  an  evil  "  in  any  religious,  and  "  a  pest  "  in  a  superior.1 
From  defect,  when  we  do  not  endure  the  imperfections  of 
others. 

Let  us  have  "  real  affection,"  "  spiritual  love."  Those 
who  possess  it  "  take  all  the  troubles  to  themselves  and  want 
others  to  have  all  the  good  they  do." 

"  How  precious  and  worthy  of  the  name,"  cried  Teresa, 
"  is  the  love  of  a  sister  who  is  able  to  serve  all  the  rest 
because  she  sacrifices  her  own  interests  for  them."2 

This  forgetfulness  of  self  will  sometimes  be  carried  a  very 
long  way  by  the  Carmelite  nun  : 

"  You  ought  also  to  try,"  advises  St  Teresa,  "to  be  gay 
with  your  sisters  when  they  need  recreation.  I  say  the  same 
of  the  usual  time  of  recreation,  when  it  makes  no  appeal  to 
you.  When  we  bear  ourselves  in  it  with  prudence,  all 
becomes  perfect  love."3 

In  communities  the  very  smallest  detail  may  become  a 
stimulus  to  fraternal  charity.  Yet  superiors  should  be  on 
the  watch  to  get  rid  of  novices  who  might  make  mutual  for- 
bearance too  difficult,  especially  such  as  are  lacking  in  right 
judgement.  This  defect,  says  St  Teresa,  is  particularly 
intolerable  in  small  communities.4 

It  is  also  necessary  never  to  accept  subjects  who  are 
given  to  melancholy,  the  neurasthenia  of  those  days.  If  a 
nun  suffered  from  this  complaint,  she  was  to  be  withdrawn 
from  solitude  and  contemplation  and  to  be  trained  in  the 
active  life  and  in  mastering  the  will.6. 

Love  of  one's  neighbour  is  essential  to  holiness;  the  more 
it  is  practised,  the  more  perfect  we  become.  But  finally  it 
all  comes  back  to  the  love  of  God,  which  is  the  synthesis  of 
all  the  virtues. 

Teresa  uses  quite  seraphic  language  in  speaking  of  it. 
Love  of  God  is  won  by  deciding  to  "  follow  in  the  way  of 
prayer  him  who  hath  so  much  loved  us."  Unfortunately 
we  do  not  rise  rapidly  to  the  perfection  of  this  love.  We 
cannot  enter  "  into  the  enjoyment  of  a  good  so  precious 
without  paying  a  high  price  for  it."  This  price  is  the  full 
giving  up  of  self  : 

1  Way,  ibid.,  p.  57.     Cf.  chap.  vi. 

2  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  vii,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  83. 
*  ibid.,  p.  82.     Cf.  chap,  xli,  pp.  299-300. 
4  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xiv,  pp.  116  ff. 
s  Foundations,  chap,   vii,   CEuvres,   pp.    126-134.     In  this  chapter   St 

Teresa   describes    melancholy   and   points  out   the   moral   treatment    it 
requires. 


Saint  TIeresa  177 

"  But  we  are  so  miserly,  so  little  eager  to  give  ourselves 
entirely  up  to  God,  that  we  never  succeed  in  putting  ourselves 
into  the  desired  dispositions.  .  .  .  We  think  we  have  given 
all;  but  in  reality  we  oiler  God  the  revenue  or  the  lruit, 
while  keeping  the  right  of  possession  for  ourselves."1 

We  embrace  poverty  and  then  engage  "  with  eagerness  " 
in  getting  superfluities  for  ourselves.  We  have  renounced 
human  honour,  yet  we  are  irritated  "  at  the  least  thing  that 
touches  it."  Thus,  it  is  because  our  giving  up  is  not 
whole-hearted,  that  we  do  not  receive  all  at  once  the  treasure 
of  divine  love."  2 

True  love  is  active.  Teresa  insists  upon  this  mark  of  the 
love  of  God.  The  more  we  love  God,  the  more  do  we  desire 
his  glory,  and  the  more  do  we  pray  and  act  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  our  desire  : 

"  To  love,"  she  says,  "  is  not  to  have  many  spiritual 
tastes,  it  is  to  resolve  firmly  to  please  God  in  everything,  it 
is  to  make  every  effort  not  to  offend  him,  it  is  to  pray  con- 
stantly for  the  increase  of  the  honour  and  glory  of  his  Son, 
and  for  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic  Church."3 

Teresa  thinks  that  "  souls  kindled  with  love  and  burning 
to  show  God  that  they  are  not  out  for  gain  "  are  not  stimu- 
lated to  serve  him  by  the  prospect  of  future  reward.  "  They 
think  only  of  satisfying  love,  whose  property  it  is  to  act 
always  and  to  act  in  every  way."* 

Towards  the  end  of  her  life,  when  she  had  attained  to  the 
loftiest  heights  of  mystical  love,  Teresa  very  distinctly 
developed  from  contemplation  towards  action.  Did  she  con- 
sider the  office  of  Martha  more  in  harmony  with  real  love 
than  that  of  Mary?    In  fact,  she  united  them  both  in  herself  : 

"  The  soul  asks  to  do  great  things  in  the  service  of  God 
and  of  her  neighbour;  for  this  prize  she  joyfully  renounces 
the  delights  and  sweetnesses  [of  contemplation].  What  she 
asks  for,  indeed,  belongs  to  the  active  rather  than  to  the 
contemplative  life,  and  if  she  gets  it,  she  apparently  must 
lose  by  obtaining  it.  Nevertheless,  in  this  new  state,  Mary 
and  Martha  almost  always  go  together,  because,  in  such 
activity  and  in  the  midst  of  what  seems  to  be  external,  the 
inward  is  at  work."6 

To  prefer  the  sweetnesses  of  retreat  to  the  deeds  of  charity 
is  to  let  oneself  be  drawn  into  "  a  very  subtle  kind  of  self- 
love,  which  creeps  in  in  such  a  fashion  imperceptibly  that  we 
seek  rather  our  own  satisfaction  than  God's.  It  is  evident, 
in  fact,   that  when  we  have  begun  to  taste  how  sweet  the 

1  Life,  chap,  xi,  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  143-145.  *  ibid. 

8  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  101. 
4  ibid.,  Sixth  Mansion,  chap,  xi,  p.  260.     Cf.  Foundations,  chap,  v, 
CEuvres,  III,  p.  98. 

6  Thoughts  on  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  chap,  vii,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  460. 
III.  12 


178  Cbvistian  Spirituality 

Lord  is,  we  take  more  pleasure  in  keeping  the  body  in  repose 
and  the  mind  in  a  state  of  spiritual  joy  than  in  giving  our- 
selves up  to  activity."1 

Teresa  is  expressing  only  her  own  personal  experience. 
How  many  journeys,  how  many  fatigues  and  annoyances  of 
all  sorts  did  she  undertake  during  the  last  twenty  years  of 
her  life  !     She  could  well  say  : 

"  Oh  !  the  charity  of  those  who  truly  love  our  divine  Lord 
and  know  the  inclination  of  his  heart  !  Rest  becomes  im- 
possible for  them,  if  they  think  they  can  contribute  ever  so 
little  to  the  good  of  a  single  soul  and  to  its  progress  in  the 
love  of  God,  or  even  comfort  it  in  its  troubles,  or  deliver  it 
from  a  danger.  What  a  burden  to  them  then  is  their  own 
repose !"2 

Love  is  an  active  and  mighty  fire ;  those  in  whom  it  burns 
cannot  but  act.3    They  take  an  interest  in  all  that  is  good  : 

"  Those  who  really  love  God  love  all  that  is  good,  help  on 
all  that  is  good,  praise  all  that  is  good,  unite  with  the  good, 
support  and  defend  the  good,  and  love  only  what  is  true  and 
worthy  of  love."4 

In  solitude,  some  may  say,  there  "  are  fewer  occasions 
for  offending  God,  and  purity  is  more  easily  kept."  But, 
replies  Teresa,  when  "obedience  or  charity  bids  us  run  the 
risk  of  occasions,"  love  comes  out  far  more  clearly  than  it 
does  in  "  the  recesses  of  solitude.  .  .  .  Believe  me,  we  make 
much  greater  gain  and  that  beyond  comparison,  even  if  we 
commit  more  faults  and  suffer  some  slight  losses."5 

How  greatly  are  we  impressed  by  the  sight  of  this  Car- 
melite, inebriated  with  the  love  of  God,  burning  to  be  in 
heaven  with  her  divine  Spouse,  and  yet,  like  St  Martin,  will- 
ing to  remain  on  earth  amidst  the  cares  and  the  sufferings 
of  the  life  of  action  in  order  to  make  men  know  and  love 
and  serve  God  !  These  various  feelings  she  expresses  in 
passionate  and  poetical  phrases  in  "  her  tender  and  fiery 
aspirations  "  entitled  her  Exclamations: 

"O  my  life,  my  life!  How  can  you  go  on  apart  from 
your  own  Life?  In  such  solitude,  what  are  you  about?  what 
can  you  do?  .  .  .6  O  my  Joy;  sovereign  Master  of  all 
beings  !  O  my  God  !  .  .  .  How  long  must  I  wait  for  thy 
presence?  .  .  .  How  long  and  bitter  is  this  life  that  is  no 
life  !  .  .  .  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long?  O  death  !  O 
death  !  How  can  we  fear  thee,  since  thou  givest  us  life?  .  .  .7 
O  my  Jesus,  how  great  is  the  love  thou  hast  for  men  !     The 


1  Foundations,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  III,  p.  99. 

Foundations,  ibid.  3  W ay  of  Perfection,  chap,  xix, 

"  ibid.,  chap,  xl,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  289. 

6  Foundations,  chap,  v,  CEuvres,  III,  p.  107. 
Exclamation  I,  CEuvres,  V,  p.  321. 

7  Exclamation  VI,  pp.  332-333. 


2 


<J 


Saint  Ueresa  179 

highest  service  we  can  g-ive  thee  is  to  leave  thee  for  the  love 
of  them  and  to  do  them  the  most  good  we  can.  Then  it  is 
that  we  possess  thee  most  fully.  The  will,  indeed,  is  less 
inebriated  with  the  joy  of  thee,  but  the  soul  rejoices  in 
pleasing-  thee.  .  .  .x  The  soul  heaps  up  devices  to  find 
friends  for  its  love,  and  gladly  leaves  the  happiness  that  floods 
it  in  the  hope  of  helping  others  to  try  to  find  it."2 

When  we  can  do  nothing,  we  ought  to  pray.  When  Teresa 
heard  of  the  calamities  that  devastated  France  and  of  the 
ravages  of  Lutheranism  there,  she  would  have  "  given  a 
thousand  lives  to  save  but  one  of  these  souls  which  were 
being  lost  in  such  large  numbers  in  that  country."  She 
asked  her  nuns  to  "  pray  for  the  defenders  of  the  Church, 
and  for  the  preachers  and  theologians  who  were  upholding 
her  cause."3  She  exhorted  them  thus  to  use  all  their  powers 
for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Carmelites  must  help  with  their 
prayers  the  clergy  who  are  carrying  out  such  a  difficult  work. 
It  is  their  vocation.4 

The  daughters  of  St  Teresa  have  always  been  most  faith- 
ful to  these  counsels  of  their  holv  Mother. 


1   Exclamation  II,  p.  324.  2  ibid.,  pp.  323-324. 

8  Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  i,  CEuvres,  V,  pp.  33-34. 
*  ibid.,  chap.  iii. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  SPANISH  CARMELITE  SCHOOL  —  THE  QUARREL 
BETWEEN  THE  MITIGATED  AND  THE  REFORMED 
CARMELITES  :  JEROME  GRATIAN  AND  ST  JOHN  OF 
THE  CROSS— THE  SPIRITUAL  TEACHING  OF  ST  JOHN 
OF  THE  CROSS 

DESPITE  the  excellence  and  soundness  of  their 
teaching-,  the  writings  of  St  Teresa  met  with 
opponents  in  Spain.  People  asked  whether  it  was 
not  dangerous  to  publish  visions  and  revelations 
at  a  time  when  false  mysticism  was  making  such 
inroads?  Did  they  want  to  foster  illuminism?  Others 
thought  it  very  indiscreet  and  even  unseemly  to  give  the 
public  the  intimate  writings  of  a  woman,  which  were  intended 
for  her  confessors  only.1  In  1589,  the  year  after  the  appear- 
ance of  the  first  edition  of  the  saint's  Works,  Luis  de  Leon 
had  to  reply  to  their  adversaries. 

But  soon  Teresa's  readers  took  upon  themselves  the  defence 
of  her  writings.  The  juridical  depositions  for  her  canoniza- 
tion contain  numerous  and  very  genuine  testimonies  of  their 
enthusiastic  admiration.  Why  should  anyone  find  fault  with 
the  publication  of  such  edifying  books?  Was  it  not  plain 
that  God  had  chosen  Teresa  to  teach  and  to  touch  souls? 

Moreover,  the  attention  of  the  religious  public  of  Spain 
was  somewhat  distracted  from  these  controversies  by  the 
quarrel  between  the  Mitigated  and  the  Reformed  Carmelites ; 
the  former  wishing  to  keep  to  an  observance  which  had 
nothing  austere  in  it,  the  latter  accepting  the  Reform  of  St 
Teresa  and  St  John  of  the  Cross. 

St  Teresa  went  through  the  beginning  of  this  quarrel  and 
even  through  the  most  critical  period  of  it.  No  sooner  had 
she  founded  the  first  convents  of  the  Discalced  Carmelites 
than  the  Mitigated  party,  fearing,  it  is  said,  that  if  the  reform 
were  allowed  to  develop,  they  would  be  obliged  to  reform 
themselves,  impeded  the  progress  of  the  new  observance. 

The  principal  upholders  of  the  reform  were  Father  Jerome 
Gratian2  and  St  John  of  the  Cross. 

1  CEuvres,  General  Introduction,  I,  pp.  xxxvii-xxxviii. 

2  On  him  and  his  critics,  see  Father  de  Saint-Joseph,  Le  P.  ] erdme 
Gratien  et  ses  juges,  Rome,  1904.  See,  too,  Cosme  de  Villiers,  Bibliotheca 
Carmelitana,  1752,  Vol.  I,  pp.  645  ff.  ;  P.  Andre  de  Sainte-Marie, 
VOrdre  du  Mont-Carmel,  Bruges,   1910. 

180 


St  3obn  of  tbe  Cross  181 

Jerome  Gratian,  who  "  belonged  to  a  noble  family  of  Valla- 
dolid,  remarkable  for  elevation  of  mind,  distinction  of  manners, 
and  rare  intellectual  culture,"  was  Commissary  Apostolic  and 
the  first  Provincial  of  the  Carmelite  Reform.  St  Teresa  held 
him  in  particular  esteem.  She  assisted  him  with  her  counsels 
in  directing  the  Discalced  Carmelites.  She  bore  him  an 
affection  which  was  "  both  filial  and  maternal."  She  treated 
him  with  the  solicitude  and  care  of  a  dearly  beloved  son,  and 
she  obeyed  him  in  everything  in  the  sphere  of  conscience 
"asa  father  given  her  by  the  hand  of  our  Lord  himself  to 
direct  her  until  the  end  of  her  life." 

Deeply  learned  in  the  science  of  mysticism,  Father  Gratian 
revised  several  of  St  Teresa's  manuscripts,  adding  valuable 
marginal  notes  which  confirm  and  explain  what  she  has 
written.1  He  was  keenly  interested  in  the  works  of  the 
Carmelite  reformer.  It  is  he  who  ordered  her  to  finish  the 
story  of  the  Foundations,  though  she  was  tempted  to  give  it 
up.2  It  is  he,  too,  who  asked  her  to  write  the  Interior  Castle 
to  take  the  place  of  her  Life,  the  manuscript  of  which  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Inquisitors  with  little  hope  of  being  re- 
covered at  the  time.  Teresa's  vivacity  of  spirit  and  facility 
with  the  pen  filled  him  with  admiration.  "  She  wrote  her 
works,"  he  says,  "  without  any  erasures  and  very  rapidly."3 
In  his  Dilucidario  del  verdadero  spiritu  de  la  Madre  Teresa  de 
Jesus,  he  has  given  priceless  testimony  to  St  Teresa  and  to 
her  real  mind,  a  witness  which  shows  how  deeply  he  entered 
into  her  spirit.4 

Despite  his  high  merit  and  talents,  and  perhaps  on  account 
of  them,  he  did  not  succeed  in  satisfying  all  the  religious  of 
the  reform.  One  party — that  of  the  fervent — reproached  him 
for  his  lack  of  firmness  in  the  application  of  the  Rule  and  for 
dragging  the  Discalced  Carmelites,  a  mainly  contemplative 
Order,  too  far  into  the  external  work  of  ministering  to  souls. 
Thus,  to  the  persecutions  of  the  Mitigated  Carmelites  were 
added  the  vexations  of  those  who  pursued  the  same  ideal  as 
his  own  ! 

As  long  as  St  Teresa  was  alive,  these  reproaches  did  not 
do  too  much  harm  to  Father  Gratian,  but  after  her  death, 
passions  broke  loose.  He  was  not  re-elected  Provincial  at 
the  Chapter  of  Lisbon  in  1585.  Such  was  his  disgrace  that 
after  having  been  "declared  rebellious  to  his  superiors  and 

1  On  these  Notes  marginales  du  P.  Gr alien,  see  Afio  Teresiano,  Vols. 
VI,  dia  23  de  junio,  and  VII,  dia  7  de  julio. 

*  Cf.  Foundations,  chap,   xxvii. 

3  Dilucidario  del  verdadero  spiritu,  I  Parte,  cap.  v.  Fr.  Gratian 
also  published,  with  a  dedicatory  letter,  the  Latin  translation  of  The 
Life,  etc.  (1610),  by  Fathers  John  of  St  Jerome  and  John  of  Jesus 
Mary. 

*  This  is  the  Dilucidario,  etc.  (Brussels,  1608),  so  often  quoted 
by  the  editors  of  St  Teresa's  works. 


1 82  Cbristian  Spirituality 

unfaithful  to  his  vows,"  he  was  driven  out  of  the  Order  in 
1592.  He  was  exiled,  and  died  at  Brussels  in  1614  in  a 
convent  of  the  Mitig-ated  brethren. 

The  Carmelite  reform  brought  no  less  suffering-  upon  St 
John  of  the  Cross.1  But  his  trials  came  chiefly  from  the 
Mitigated  Carmelites,  the  implacable  adversaries  of  the  new 
observance. 

In  these  afflictions,  as  in  those  of  St  Teresa  and  of  Jerome 
Gratian,  may  be  seen  the  ransom  paid  for  the  Carmelite 
Reform.  They  are  also  a  luminous  expression  of  the  mystical 
spirit  of  John  of  the  Cross  : 

"  O  truth  unheeded  !"  he  writes  in  his  Spiritual  Canticle,2 
"  when  shall  we  make  people  understand  that  the  depth  of 
the  wisdom  and  of  the  infinite  riches  of  God  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  those  who  reject  suffering  and  do  not  desire  it  and 
find  no  spiritual  consolation  therein?  When  will  they  be 
convinced  that,  if  they  really  would  aspire  to  divine  wisdom, 
they  must  begin  by  sounding  the  depths  of  the  sufferings  of 
the  cross?" 

Since  "  Suffering  is  the  best  means  of  advancing  farthest 
in  the  delectable  and  profound  wisdom  of  God,"  John  of  the 
Cross  loves  suffering  passionately.  If  it  does  not  come  to 
him  of  itself,  he  will  go  to  fetch  it. 

In  1567,  three  years  after  his  profession  in  the  Carmelite 
Convent  of  Medina,  having  brought  his  studies  in  theology 
at  Salamanca  to  a  brilliant  finish,  he  felt  he  was  called  to  a 
stricter  Order  than  the  one  he  had  entered.  More  and  more 
privations  and  renunciations  !  Such  was  his  device.  He  was 
thinking   of   the   Carthusians,    when   he   decided,    in   his   first 

1  Juan  de  Yepes  was  born  in  1542  at  Hontiveras,  near  Avila.  At  the 
age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  he  lost  his  father,  and,  to  earn  his  living,  had 
to  become  a  sick  attendant  in  the  hospital  of  Medina  del  Campo.  While 
looking  after  the  sick  he  managed  to  follow  the  classes  of  the  Jesuit 
College  of  that  town.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  joined  the  Convent 
of  the  Carmelites  of  Medina,  and  made  his  profession  there  in  1564  as 
John  of  St  Matthias,  and  then  he  was  sent  to  Salamanca  to  study 
theology.  In  the  month  of  August,  1567,  he  had  his  first  interview 
with  St  Teresa,  during  which  he  decided  to  undertake  the  reform  of 
the  Carmelites  under  her  direction.  At  Duruelo  he  founded  the  first 
house  of  the  Discalced  Carmelites.  The  success  of  the  reform  brought 
persecution  upon  him.  The  Mitigated  brethren  imprisoned  him  at 
Toledo  in  a  narrow  cell  from  December  4,  1577,  to  August  15,  1578. 
Miraculously  delivered  from  captivity,  he  spent  a  few  months  at  the 
Convent  of  Calvary  in  Andalusia,  then  became  Rector  of  Baeza,  and 
founded  several  convents  of  the  Discalced.  He  died  at  the  Convent  of 
Ubeda  on  December  14,  1591.  He  was  canonized  by  Benedict  XIII  on 
December  27,  1726.  Cf.  Demimuid,  Saint  Jean  de  la  Croix,  3rd  ed., 
Paris,  1916 ;  Fr.  Jerome  de  Saint-Joseph,  Vie  de  saint  Jean  de  la  Croix, 
in  the  CEuvres  edited  by  the  Carmelites  of  Paris,  Vol.  I. 

2  Part  IV,  Strophe  xxxvi,  H.  Hoornaert's  translation,  Vol.  IV, 
p.  218,  Paris-Bruxelles,  2nd  ed.,  1923. 


St  Sohn  of  tbe  Cross  183 

interview  with  St  Teresa,  to  undertake  the  reform  of  the 
Carmelite  religious.  Next  year,  September  30,  1568,  he  set 
up  the  first  Convent  of  the  Discalced  Carmelites  in  a  poor 
hovel  at  Duruelo.  What  was  its  state  of  poverty?  There  is 
no  difficulty  in  surmising-  it.  John  of  the  Cross  was  thus 
living-  through  his  dark  nights  of  the  senses  before  expound- 
ing his  theory  of  them  in  his  books.1 

To  these  voluntary  sufferings  were  added  others  from  with- 
out. The  success  of  the  reform  was  quicker  than  could  have 
been  expected.  People  began  to  exalt  the  Discalced  and  to 
turn  away  from  the  Mitigated  Carmelites.  These  displayed 
irritation  and  began  to  persecute  John  of  the  Cross. 

First  of  all  he  was  compelled  to  move  frequently  and  un- 
justifiably by  his  superiors,  who  were  of  the  Mitigated  party. 
Finally,  in  1571,  to  put  a  stop  to  his  work  of  reform,  they  sent 
him  to  Avila  as  confessor  to  the  Carmelite  Convent  of  the  In- 
carnation, "the  main  fortress  of  the  Mitigated  Carmelites." 
St  Teresa  was  appointed  Prioress  of  the  Convent  to  hinder 
her,  too,  from  carrying-  on  the  Carmelite  reform. 

Desiring  to  ruin  the  reform  in  every  way,  even  by  violence, 
the  Mitigated  Carmelites,  on  the  night  between  the  third  and 
fourth  of  December,  1577,  got  John  of  the  Cross  carried  off 
by  force  of  arms  from  his  house  at  Avila.  He  was  dragged 
to  the  Convent  of  the  Mitigated  Carmelites  in  that  town,  and 
was  there  flogged  to  the  blood.  He  was  then  taken  to  Toledo 
and  interned  in  the  Carmelite  Convent.2  All  this  was  done 
with  the  greatest  secrecy. 

His  prison  was  a  dark  recess,  a  real  dungeon  cell  without 
ventilation.  His  daily  food  was  a  morsel  of  bread  and  a 
sardine.  Rough  handling  was  not  spared  him.3  And  it  was 
in  this  cell  that  John  of  the  Cross  composed  his  first  work, 
the  Spiritual  Canticle,*  the  expression  of  a  soul  purified  with 
suffering  and  inebriated  with  love. 

This  poem  of  mystical  love  consists  of  forty  strophes  of 
five  verses  each.  It  takes  its  inspiration  from  the  Canticle 
of  Canticles ;  it  is  a  dialogue  between  the  soul  and  her  divine 

1  At  Duruelo  the  saint  changed  his  name  from  John  of  St  Matthias 
to  John  of  the  Cross  to  show  his  love  for  suffering. 

2  St  Teresa  said  of  the  vexations  of  John  of  the  Cross  and  of  Jerome 
Gratian  :  "  Poor  Fathers  !  I  would  rather  see  them  in  the  hands  of 
the  Moors." 

*  It  was  then  that  St  Teresa  wrote  to  Philip  II  of  Spain  to  complain 
of  the  Mitigated  Carmelites  (Bouix,  Vol.  II,  p.  301).  The  quarrel  died 
down  when  Pope  Gregory  XIII,  in  his  Brief  of  June  27,  1580,  decided 
that  the  convents  of  the  reform  should  become  an  autonomous  province 
with  a  Provincial  of  the  Reform.  But  it  did  not  altogether  cease  until 
the  two  observances  were  separated — each  having  its  own  Superior 
General — decreed  on  December  20,  1593,  by  Clement  VIII.  Neither 
St  Teresa  nor  St  John  of  the  Cross  saw  the  end  of  the  dispute. 

*  In  15S4  he  added  the  Explanations  to  it  in  prose.  The  finished 
work  is  thus  the  last  composed  by  St  John  of  the  Cross. 


1 84  Cbristian  Spirituality 

Spouse.  In  the  first  part — which  he  calls  the  purgative  way 
or  the  way  of  novices  in  the  mystical  state — the  Bride  seeks 
her  Beloved  and  asks  creatures  to  tell  her  where  he  is.  The 
second  part— that  of  proficients  in  the  illuminative  way — 
gives  the  answer  of  the  Spouse  who  has  just  become 
spiritually  betrothed  to  the  soul.  In  the  third — the  unitive 
way — the  mystical  marriage  is  celebrated.  Finally,  in  the 
last  strophes  the  Bride  sings  of  the  joy  given  her  by  her 
intuition  of  the  happiness  of  heaven.1 

St  John  of  the  Cross  wrrote  this  Canticle  "  through  need 
of  expansion  "  amidst  his  unheard-of  tribulations.  His  heroic 
endurance  of  his  trials  won  him  extraordinary  graces.  He 
was  quickly  raised  to  the  most  perfect  stage  of  union  with 
God,  and  poured  forth  his  joy  in  lyrical  poetry.  He  turned 
the  Canticle  into  a  kind  of  treatise  of  speculative  mysticism 
by  adding  thereto  his  Explanations  towards  the  close  of  his 
life. 

His  studies  at  Salamanca  had  indeed  prepared  him  for 
mystical  speculation.  He  had  a  deep  knowledge  of  scholastic 
theology,  and  was  steeped  in  the  works  of  the  Areopagite. 
There  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  he  had  also  read  the 
Flemish  and  German  mystics.2  Not  long  after  his  escape 
from  imprisonment  in  Toledo,  about  the  end  of  1578,  he  was 
appointed  Prior  of  the  monastery  of  Calvary.  There  it  was 
that  he  began  to  write  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel  and  The 
Dark  Night. ,3  He  finished  them  in  1583  at  Grenada,  where  he 
filled  the  office  of  Prior.  At  Granada  he  also  wrote  The 
Living  Flame  of  Love  in  1584.4  In  these  three  famous 
treatises  the  saint  sets  forth  the  theory  of  the  mystical  states 
which  he  had  himself  experienced. 


St  John  of  the  Cross,  despite  the  exceptional  merits  of  his 
works,  will  certainly  never  have  as  many  readers  as  St 
Teresa.     This   is   to  be  regretted.      But  would   that  he  had 

1  See  the  text  of  the  Canticle  in  H.  Hoornaert,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  5-16. 

2  Cf.  Collationes  brugenses,  torn.  XVII,  pp.  233,  499. 

3  Etudes  carmelitaines,  15  juillet,  1913. 

1  St  John  of  the  Cross  also  wrote  Maxims  and  Spiritual  Counsels. 
All  his  works  were  written  in  Spanish.  The  first  appeared  in  1618  at 
Alcala;  it  contained  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  The  Dark  Night, 
and  The  Living  Flame  of  Love.  It  was  republished  at  Barcelona  in 
1619.  Another  edition  appeared  at  Seville  in  1703  and  included  also 
The  Spiritual  Canticle.  A  critical  edition  was  undertaken  in  1754  by 
Fr.  Andrew  of  the  Incarnation,  but  was  not  published.  The  work  was 
resumed  by  Fr.  Gerard  of  St  John  of  the  Cross,  who  published  (in 
1912  and  subsequently)  the  critical  edition  of  the  saint's  Works  at 
Toledo.  In  1880  the  Carmelites  of  Paris  made  a  complete  translation 
of  the  1703  edition,  and  this  has  gone  through  many  editions.  Fr. 
Gerard's  edition  has  been  translated  by  H.  Hoornaert,  Paris-Bruxelles, 
2nd  ed.,  1922-1923;  and  this  is  the  edition  I  shall  quote. 


St  Sobn  of  tbe  Cross  185 

written  with  more  simplicity  !  Instead  of  a  concrete 
mysticism,  clothed  in  the  charm  of  style,  John  of  the  Cross 
delights  in  a  sometimes  rather  subtle  psychology ;  he  ex- 
pounds his  doctrine,  which  is  often  fairly  abstruse,  under 
complicated  symbols,  in  conformity  with  the  Spanish  "  man- 
nerism "  of  his  times.1  He  was,  however,  a  poet,  and  he 
could  have  revealed  to  us  with  dazzling  brilliancy  and  clarity 
that  divine  "poetry  of  religion,"2  which  is  known  as 
mysticism.  Did  he  not  sing  in  lyrical  strains  of  the  joys  of 
a  soul  united  with  God? 

But  had  he  done  so,  he  would  have  thought  himself  lack- 
ing in  Christian  renunciation,  which  he  pushed  to  its  utmost 
limits  in  practice.  He  knew  by  experience  what  God  requires 
in  the  way  of  mortifications  from  a  soul  called  to  mystical 
union.  Before  tasting  "  these  intense  delights,  this  joy  of 
soul  and  mind  "  resulting  from  such  union,  the  purgatory  of 
purification  had  to  be  passed  through.  Before  the  flame  of  love 
is  seen  in  all  its  brightness,  we  must  traverse  the  dark  night 
of  the  senses  and  of  the  spirit.  Why  should  we  be  astonished 
if  there  is  no  light  in  that  dark  night,  and  that  he  who  is 
leading  us  through  the  darkness  makes  us  feel  it? 

"  Since  we  have  to  make  known  the  Dark  Night,  the 
only  way  that  leads  to  God,"  he  writes  in  the  Prologue  of 
The  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  "  the  reader  will  not  be 
astonished  if  he  sometimes  meets  with  what  looks  like  dark- 
ness. This  will  be  his  feeling,  I  think,  as  he  begins  to  read. 
As  he  goes  on,  he  will  better  understand  what  has  gone 
before  ;  one  page  will  throw  light  upon  another.  If  he  under- 
takes a  second  reading,  I  believe  that  it  will  give  him  further 
light,  and  that  the  doctrine  will  come  out  more  completely. 
If,  however,  the  second  reading  does  not  give  full  satisfac- 
tion, let  the  reader  be  good  enough  to  blame  my  scanty 
knowledge  and  defects  of  style;  for  indisputably  the  matter 
is  good  in  itself  and  strictly  necessary."3 

It  is  not  only  through  his  own  bent  that  this  passionate 
lover  of  the  cross  describes  the  state  of  purification  in  which 
God  places  holy  souls.  If  he  clings  to  this  forbidding  sub- 
ject rather  than  to  "  the  moral  questions  of  an  attractive 
spirituality  enjoyed  by  souls  who  seek  God  by  the  way  of 
consolations,"4  it  is  because  he  knows  how  good  it  is  for 
them  : 

"  Certain  confessors  and  spiritual  fathers,"  he  says,  "  for 
want  of  experience  in  these  ways,   far  from  coming  to  the 

1  This  may  be  noted  especially  in  his  last  two  works,  The  Living 
Flame  of  Love  and  The  Sfiritual  Canticle. 

2  Demimuid,  of.  cit.,  126. 

3  H.   Hoornaert,   CEuvres  sprituelles  de  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  Vol    I 

P-  5- 

*  ibid.,  p.  6. 


186  Cbristian  Spirituality 

rescue  of  souls,  load  them  with  obstacles  and  do  them 
harm.  .  .  .  For  the  soul  there  is  no  more  disquieting-  and 
painful  state  than  that  of  not  being-  able  to  see  clearly  within 
itself,  and  of  finding  no  one  who  can  understand  it.  Led 
by  God  over  the  heights  of  dark  contemplation  and  aridity, 
it  thinks  that  it  is  going-  astray,  and  amidst  the  darkness 
and  the  sufferings  and  the  anguish  and  the  temptations, 
the  director  will  tell  it  as  did  Job's  comforters  :  this  is  melan- 
choly1 and  infirmity;  perhaps  you  are  keeping  back  some 
hidden  wickedness,  whence  comes  the  abandonment  in  which 
God  is  leaving  you.  The  confessor  concludes  that  the  soul 
must  be  or  must  have  been  very  guilty,  since  it  is  burdened 
with  such  troubles.  Others  will  say  that  this  must  be  a 
relapse,  since  the  soul  finds  neither  relish  nor  comfort  in  the 
things  of  God  as  it  used  to  do."2 

These  ili-advised  counsellors  impute  to  the  soul,  thus  dis- 
tressed, troubles  for  which  it  is  not  responsible,  such  as  really 
come  from  God  and  prepare  the  way  for  extraordinary  graces. 
"  They  are  like  the  builders  of  Babel,  who,  because  they 
could  not  understand  one  another,  did  not  bring  useful  things 
but  supplied  others,  so  that  the  work  came  to  a  standstill."3 

All  the  mystics  mention  these  purifications  usually  allotted 
by  God  to  souls  who  are  called  to  the  highest  kinds  of  prayer. 
None  have  analyzed  them  as  thoroughly  as  St  John  of  the 
Cross,  and  this  it  is  that  gives  such  great  interest  to  his 
writings  :  it  is  also  the  chief  characteristic  of  his  mysticism. 
He  describes  these  purifications,  these  mystical  nights,  in 
two  celebrated  treatises  :  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Cartnel  and 
The  Dark  Night.  The  first  deals  with  active  purifications — 
i.e.,  the  mortifications  which  the  soul  must  practise  spon- 
taneously to  do  its  utmost  to  prepare  itself  for  close  union 
with  God.  The  second,  The  Dark  Night,  tells  of  the  passive 
purifications  which  the  soul  must  undergo.  Here,  it  is  God 
himself  who  alone  acts  and  strips  the  soul  of  all  interior 
impediments  to  the  highest  contemplation. 

The  soul  who  has  passed  through  these  dark  nights  and 
has  "  reached  the  shining  summit  "  of  the  mystic  mount,  after 
climbing  up  "  its  rough  and  steep  slopes,"4  possesses  God  in 

1  The  neurasthenia  which  St  Teresa  mentions. 

2  Hoornaert,  ibid.,  pp.  3-4.  St  John  of  the  Cross  has  fifteen  spiritual 
maxims  on  "  the  spiritual  teacher  "  and  on  direction.  "  To  direct 
souls,"  he  says,  "  is  not  the  business  of  the  first  man  you  meet,  for  to 
judge  soundly  or  to  be  mistaken  in  so  grave  a  matter  is  a  thing  of  the 
highest  importance."     H.  Hoornaert,  Vol.  II,  p.  153. 

3  ibid.,  p.  3. 

4  St  John  of  the  Cross  himself  sketched  the  design  intended  for  the 
frontispiece  of  his  works.  It  represents  a  mountain.  On  the  summit 
is  shown  perfect  union  with  God.  At  the  foot  of  the  mystic  mountain 
three  roads  are  revealed  to  the  soul.  Only  one  of  them  leads  to  the 
summit,  the  road  of  the  complete  renunciation  of  everything.     This  is 


St  3obn  of  tbe  Cross  187 

the  union  of  perfect  love.  This  is  the  subject  of  two  other 
works  of  St  John  of  the  Cross  :  The  Spiritual  Canticle  and 
The  Living  Flame  of  Love. 


I— THE  SPIRITUAL  TEACHING  OF  ST  JOHN  OF  THE 
CROSS1— ACTIVE  PURIFICATIONS  WHICH  PRE- 
PARE THE  WAY  FOR  ACTIVE  CONTEMPLATION 

«  Active  purifications,  as  we  have  seen,  are  those  which  the 
soul,  with  the  help  of  grace,  can  realize  in  itself,  and  does, 
in  fact,  realize  by  its  own  initiative,  as  contrasted  with  those 
which  are  wrought  by  God  himself.  In  the  latter,  the  soul 
is  passive  in  God's  hands.2 

It  is  the  whole  of  the  soul  that  has  to  be  purified  :  in  the 
first  place,  its  senses ;  then,  its  spirit — i.e.,  its  mind,  memory, 
and  will.  Like  the  mystics  of  the  Middle  Ages,  like  St 
Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  St  Teresa,  St  John  of  the  Cross 
bases  his  spiritual  psychology  on  this  division  of  the  faculties 
of  the  soul. 

He  calls  these  various  purifications  "dark  nights."  Let 
us  not  be  too  alarmed  by  such  mannerisms  of  style.  Purifica- 
tion strips  the  senses  and  the  faculties  of  the  soul  from  that 
which  attracted  them.  It  deprives  them  of  material,  just  as 
darkness  in  the  night  does  away  with  light  and  thus  deprives 
the  eyes  of  all  that  they  see.  Thus  purified,  the  senses  and 
the  faculties  of  the  soul  are  in  the  darkness  of  the  void,  just 
as  the  eyes  are  without  light.3  To  enter  into  heaven,  the 
soul   usually   must   be   purified  in   purgatory.      And  the  soul 

the  central  road.  Of  the  two  others,  the  one  is  that  in  which  souls 
attached  to  the  goods  of  this  world  go  astray ;  the  other  is  that  wherein 
souls  take  pleasure  in  the  enjoyment  of  spiritual  goods. 

1  In  the  translation  of  the  Works  of  St  John  of  the  Cross,  by  Fr. 
Cyprian  of  the  Nativity  (1641),  will  be  found  an  Introduction  and 
explanations  of  this  teaching  by  Fathers  Jerome  of  St  Joseph,  Nicholas 
of  Jesus,  and  James  of  Jesus.  In  the  Toledo  edition  of  Fr.  Gerard 
(1914,  Vol.  Ill)  are  also  to  be  found  the  explanations  of  Father  Diego 
de  Jesus,  O.C.D.  (1570-1621),  and  the  Don  que  tuvo  S  Juan  de  la  Cruz 
far  a  quiar  las  almas  a  Dios,  by  Fr.  Joseph  of  Jesus  Mary,  CD. 
ft  1626),  the  author  of  a  Subida  del  alma  a  Dios,  Madrid,  1656,  and 
other  books  enumerated  in  the  edition  of  St  John  of  the  Cross  by  Fr. 
Gerard  (Vol.  I,  p.  lix).  Cf.  R.  P.  Wenceslas  of  the  Holy  Sacrament, 
Fisionomia  de  un  Doctor,  Salamanca,  1913  ;  Ludovic  de  Besse,  E.clair- 
cissements  sur  les  CEuvres  mystiques  de  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  1895  ;  P. 
Berthier,  Lettres  sur  S  Jean  de  la  Croix  to  the  Marquis  de  Crequi ; 
R.  Garrigou-Lagrange,  Perfection  chretienne  et  contemplation  selon 
S  Thomas  d'Aquin  et  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  1923;  Mgr.  Landrieux,  Sur 
les  fas  de  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  Paris,  1924;  A.  Tanqueray,  of.  cit., 
pp.  890  ff. 

2  Ascent  of  Mount   Carmel,   Book    I,  chap,    xiii,    Hoornaert,   Vol.    I, 

P-  47- 

3  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  Book  I,  chaps,  ii,  iii. 


1 88  Christian  Spirituality 

called  to  the  heights  of  contemplation  must  also  pass  through 
the  mystical  purgatory  of  purifications ;  and  this  purgatory 
is  as  dark  as  night. 

A — The  Night  of  the  Senses  or  the  Active  Purifica- 
tion of  the  Senses 

The  first  night,  that  of  the  senses,  corresponds  with  what 
ascetic  authors  call  the  purgative  way.1  St  John  of  the 
Cross  powerfully  demonstrates  the  necessity  of  mortifying 
to  the  utmost  "  our  unruly  appetites  "  or  passions.  He 
describes  at  length  their  "  harmful  effects  "  and  the  damage 
they  inflict  upon  us.  All  our  voluntary  appetites,  he  says, 
"  even  the  least  which  have  to  do  with  simple  imperfections, 
must  be  entirely  eliminated  "  if  "  we  would  attain  to  entire 
union"  with  God.2  Then  he  shows  what  must  be  done  to 
enter  into  the  night  of  the  senses. 

First,  the  soul  must  habitually  desire  to  imitate  Christ  in 
everything.  His  sole  satisfaction  in  this  world  was  to  do 
his  Father's  will.  Next,  all  that  appeals  to  the  senses  and 
does  not  tend  "  purely  to  the  honour  and  glory  of  God," 
must  be  renounced  "  through  the  love  of  Christ."3  If  the 
senses  are  thus  mortified,  the  passions  will  also  be  mortified  : 

"  For  instance,"  says  St  John  of  the  Cross,  "  if  the  things 
I  that  are  spoken  of  please  you,  even  if  they  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  service  of  God,  abstain  from  enjoying  them  and 
do  not  listen  to  them.  If  the  pleasure  of  the  eyes  inclines  you 
towards  things  that  do  not  raise  your  mind  to  God,  abstain 
from  the  enjoyment  of  them  and  turn  your  eyes  away  from 
them ;  and  mortify  yourself,  too,  if  you  want  to  say  or  do 
something  to  please  yourself.  In  all  your  senses  without 
exception,  do  away  with  the  power  of  attraction,  when  you 
can  do  it  without  drawing  anyone's  attention;  but  if  you 
cannot  do  that,  it  will  suffice  to  renounce  the  satisfaction 
which  you  cannot  interrupt.  Thereby  your  mortified  senses 
will  be  freed  from  attraction  and,  as  it  were,  left  in 
darkness."4 

Let  us  not  forget  that  here  we  have  to  do  with  rules  of 
perfection,  with  renunciation  and  satisfaction  in  things  per- 
missible. It  is  by  the  way  of  absolute  abnegation  that  the 
saint  would  lead  us  to  union  with  God. 

To  make  still  more  sure  the  death  of  the  passions,  he 
proposes  the  following  most  crucifying  practices  : 

1  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  Book  I,  chaps,  iv-xv.  St  John  of  the 
Cross  always  assumes  that  souls  who  have  actively  entered  into  the 
dark  night  are  already  completely  detached  from  sin.  He  demands  an 
absolute  detachment  even  from  simple  imperfections  of  the  least  volun- 
tary kind. 

2  ibid.,  Book  I,  chap,  xi,  p.  39. 

3  ibid.,  chap,  xiii,  Vol.  I,  p.  48.                                    4  ibid. 


St  Bobn  of  tfoe  Cross  189 

44  Seek  preferably  :  Not  the  easiest,  but  the  hardest.  Not 
the  most  to  your  taste,  but  the  most  insipid.  Not  what 
pleases  you,  but  what  does  not  attract  you.  Not  what  com- 
forts you,  but  what  grieves  you.  Not  what  relieves  you, 
but  what  demands  hard  toil.  Not  more,  but  less.  Not  the 
highest  and  the  most  precious,  but  the  lowest  and  the  most 
despised.  Not  to  desire  things,  but  to  be  indifferent  to  them. 
Not  what  is  best  in  anything,  but  what  is  worst."1 

St  John  of  the  Cross  further  reveals  his  mind  with  regard 
to  the  mortification  of  man's  threefold  concupiscence  : 

44  In  the  first  place,  strive  to  despise  yourself  and  desire  to 
be  despised  by  your  neighbour,  this  is  salutary  for  the  con- 
cupiscence of  the  flesh.  In  the  second  place,  try  to  lessen 
yourself  by  what  you  say  and  to  get  your  neighbour  to 
lessen  you,  this  is  salutary  for  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes. 
Thirdly,  endeavour  to  have  a  sense  of  humiliation  with  regard 
to  yourself  and  to  get  others  to  have  the  same  opinion  of 
you,  this  is  salutary  for  destroying  the  pride  of  life."2 

To  attain  to  such  renunciation  of  the  things  of  sense,  the 
soul  is  helped  by  the  love  of  God.  4<  By  putting  her  relish  and 
power  "  in  this  love,  she  finds  the  necessary  vigour  and  con- 
fidence for  easily  abandoning  any  other  affection.3  To  the 
fire  of  the  passions  she  opposes  the  still  more  burning  flame 
of  the  love  of  her  heavenly  Spouse.  Moreover,  she  tastes  in 
such  complete  renunciation  a  great  joy,  the  joy  of  deliver- 
ance. 44  Since  the  sin  of  the  fall,  the  soul  is  really  the  captive 
of  our  mortal  body,  subject  to  the  passions  and  natural 
appetites."  When  she  has  passed  through  the  night  of  the 
senses,  she  enters  44  into  possession  of  true  liberty."  John  of 
the  Cross  sings  of  this  deliverance  in  lyrical  accents.4 

B — The  Night  of  the  Spirit  or  the  Active  Purifica- 
tion of  the  Spirit 

However,  the  soul  has  not  yet  attained  union  with  God. 
The  night  of  the  senses  is  succeeded  by  the  Night  of  the 
spirit.  Or  rather,  as  St  John  of  the  Cross  explains, 5  it  is 
the  second  part  of  the  night  that  now  begins  and  this  is 
darker  than  the  first.  The  night  of  the  senses  is  like  the  twi- 
light which  follows  the  setting  of  the  sun,  wherein  we  can 
hardly  see  anything.  The  night  of  the  spirit,  especially  that 
of  the  understanding,  corresponds  with  midnight ;  it  is  utter 
darkness.  For,  in  the  night  of  the  senses,  the  intelligence 
was  still  active  and  took  cognisance  of  things ;  but  now  it 
totally  ceases  from  its  natural  operations.     The  soul  is  thus 

1  Ascent  of  Mount  C  arm  el,  pp.  48-49. 

2  ibid.,  p.  49. 

8  ibid.,  chap,  xiv,  p.  52.  4  ibid.,  chap,  xv,  p.  53. 

5  ibid.,  Book  II,  Introduction  and  chap.  i. 


i go  Christian  Spirituality 

in  total  darkness.  The  third  part  of  the  night,  the  night  of 
the  memory  and  the  will,  is  already  near  the  break  of  day. 
It  is  in  some  sort  the  dawn  before  the  divine  sunrise  in  which, 
during  contemplation,  the  soul  "  loses  herself  in  an  ecstasy 
of  heavenly  light." 

What  St  John  of  the  Cross  calls  spirit — let  us  bear  it  in 
mind — comprises  the  understanding,  the  memory,  and  the 
will.  The  understanding  enters  into  the  dark  night  by  faith, 
the  memory  by  hope,  and  the  will  by  love.x 


The  understanding  must  be  stripped  of  all  its  natural 
cognitions  and  thoughts  if  it  desires  to  attain  to  the  contem- 
plation of  God  ;  this  is  a  kind  of  axiom  with  spiritual  writers. 
Let  us  call  to  mind  the  teaching  of  the  Areopagite.  To  see 
God  in  contemplation,  we  must  first  have  nudity  of  the  in- 
telligence. St  John  of  the  Cross,  too,  speaks  of  this  "  nudity 
of  the  understanding."  He  had  read  the  Dionysian  writings; 
he  had  no  doubt  also  read  the  German  and  Flemish  mystics. 
Sometimes  he  seems  to  reproduce  their  expressions.  Accord- 
ing to  him,  the  night  of  the  spirit  is  "  nudity  and  the  void," 
wherein  it  must  be  left  so  far  as  its  operations  are  concerned. 
If  we  would  come  to  the  possession  of  God,  we  must  "  enter 
into  this  extreme  nudity  and  void  of  the  spirit."2  For  the 
thoughts  and  "  the  knowledge  acquired  and  kept  as  its  own 
by  the  understanding  are  rather  hindrances  than  means  " 
towards  union  with  God.  They  are  limited  and  imperfect ; 
but  God  is  infinite  and  perfect  : 

"  In  this  life,"  he  explains,  "  for  the  understanding  to 
attain  to  union  with  God,  so  far  as  that  is  possible,  it  must 
use  the  proper  means  towards  union,  means  having  a  close 
likeness  to  the  end.  Note  well  that  amongst  all  creatures, 
whether  superior  or  inferior,  none  affords  this  close  likeness 
or  possesses  the  required  resemblance  to  the  divine  Being. 
According  to  the  theologians,  all  of  them,  indeed,  have 
a  certain  relation  to  God  and  are  marked  with  a  divine  im- 
print, more  accentuated  in  some  than  in  others,  according  to 
their  degree  of  excellence  ;  but  between  them  and  God  there 
is  no  affinity,  no  essential  likeness.  In  reality,  the  distance 
between  the  divine  and  created  beings  is  infinite ;  hence  it 
is  impossible  for  the  understanding  to  enter  truly  into  God 
by  means  of  creatures,  whether  heavenly  or  earthly,  since  all 
proportion  and  likeness  between  them  is  lacking."3 

Therefore  the  understanding  will  of  itself  renounce  its 
human  activity  and  forms  and  representations  provided  by  the 

1  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  Book  II,  chap,  v,  Vol.  I,  p.  73. 

2  ibid.,  chap,  vi,  pp.  76-77. 

3  id.,  Book  II,  chap,  vii,  Vol.  I,  p.  83. 


St  -Jobn  ot  tbe  Cross  191 

corporal  senses  and  taken  from  things  visible.  It  will  put 
out  its  natural  light  and  thus  be  in  darkness. 

This  extinction  does  not  destroy  the  understanding" ;  but  on 
the  contrary  it  makes  its  illumination  by  faith  all  the  easier. 
The  more  the  understanding-  is  mortified,  the  more  does  faith 
increase  in  it,  the  more,  too,  does  it  become  capable  of  union 
with  God.  For  there  is  no  close  means  of  union  with  God 
apart  from  faith.  "  Faith  is  so  intimately  connected  with 
God  that  believing  by  faith  and  seeing  in  the  beatific  vision 
have  the  same  object."1  When  the  soul  has  concentrated  the 
action  of  her  powers,  her  inclinations  and  spiritual  appetites 
in  pure  faith,  she  can  unite  "  with  her  Beloved  by  the  union 
of  simplicity,  of  purity  of  love,  and  of  likeness."2  But  faith 
is  obscure,  this  is  one  of  its  characteristics.  Its  light  is 
supernatural ;  it  eclipses  all  human  brightness  of  the  under- 
standing. The  latter  believes  the  truths  revealed  without 
understanding  them.  Hence  it  remains,  humanly  speaking, 
in  a  dark  night.     It  is  the  dark  night  of  the  understanding. 

To  put  the  understanding  into  this  night  and  to  immerge 
it  in  faith  only,  it  must — going  from  the  more  outward  to 
the  more  inward — be  stripped  of  the  perceptions  of  the 
external  senses,  then  of  those  of  the  internal  senses,  especially 
of  the  imagination,  and  lastly  of  those  that  are  purely  mental 
or  of  ideas.3 


According  to  what  was  said  of  the  Night  of  the  senses,  he 
who  would  unite  with  God  must  have  already  purified  his 
outward  corporal  senses  by  depriving  them  of  all  perceptions 
that  do  not  lead  to  God.  But  the  understanding  may  have 
previously  received  perceptions  and  knowledge  through  the 
corporal  senses.  It  must  be  stripped  of  them  so  that  none  of 
its  former  perceptions  and  no  sensible  images  remain.  It 
will  thus  be  in  the  night  so  far  as  the  outward  corporal 
perceptions  are  concerned. 

St  John  of  the  Cross  goes  still  further.  He  demands  that 
contemplatives  shall  renounce  supernatural  phenomena,  such 
as  visions,  revelations,  and  interior  words  which  sometimes 
affect  the  external  senses.  The  more  the  soul  "  makes  of 
such  phenomena,"  he  says,  "  the  more  does  it  turn  away 
from  the  true  road  and  from  the  security  of  faith.  "4  Evidently 
he  is  here  reacting — and  how  energetically — against  illum- 
inism  and  the  pseudo-mystical  sense-illusions  of  the 
Alumbrados.     Let  us  listen  to  him  : 


1  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,    Vol.  I,  p.  87. 

2  ibid.,  p.  57. 

3  See  the  whole  of  Book  II  of  the  Ascent  of  Mount   Carmel,  chaps. 
i-xxx,  Vol.  I,  pp.  56-207. 

4  id.,  Book  II,  chap,  x,  Vol.  I,  p.  92. 


192  Cbristian  Spirituality 

"  It  may  happen,  and  often  does  happen,  that  spiritual 
persons  are  supernaturally  affected  by  representations  and 
thing's  that  affect  the  senses.  Their  eyes  are  struck  by 
fig-ures,  by  persons  of  another  world,  by  visions  of  saints,  of 
good  or  bad  angels,  by  lights  and  extraordinary  brightnesses ; 
the  ear  hears  certain  strange  words,  uttered  by  persons  in 
visible  shape  or  said  apart  from  any  apparition  ;  the  sense  of 
smell  perceives  sweet  perfumes,  the  source  of  which  is  un- 
disclosed. The  sense  of  taste  may  likewise  be  affected  by  a 
most  charming  savour,  and  the  sense  of  touch  by  deep  de- 
lights. These  are  sometimes  so  strong  as  to  rejoice  both 
marrow  and  bones  till  they  dilate  and  are  steeped  in  pleasure. 
Of  this  nature  is  what  is  called  spiritual  unction,  which  is 
imparted  to  the  members  of  pure  souls.  .  .  .  We  must  take 
account  of  this  :  though  all  these  phenomena  may  come  from 
God  and  affect  the  bodily  senses,  they  must  never  be  the 
subjects  of  satisfaction  or  acceptance  ;  I  will  go  farther,  they 
must  be  fled,  and  that  absolutely,  without  trying  to  find 
out  whether  their  source  is  good  or  evil.  From  the  very 
fact  that  these  communications  are  mainly  external  and 
physical,  it  may  always  be  presumed  that  their  origin  is 
not  divine."1 

St  John  of  the  Cross  declares  without  ambiguity  that  such 
sensible  manifestations  "  are  a  source  of  hindrances  and 
hurts  to  the  soul,"  and  that  by  not  shutting  our  eyes  to  them 
"we  depart  from  the  means  to  union  with  God,"  which  is 
faith.2 

He  is  just  as  severe  in  dealing  with  supernatural  imagina- 
tive visions,  perceived  by  the  internal  senses,  which  are 
"  imagination  and   fancy." 

"  I  declare,  then,"  he  says,  "  that  all  perceptions  and 
visions  of  the  imagination,  every  shape  and  sensible  species 
presented  as  a  figure,  image  or  particular  cognition,  whether 
regarded  as  false  and  coming  from  the  devil,  or  as  true  and 
coming  from  God,  ought  not  to  preoccupy  or  nourish  the 
understanding.  The  soul  cannot  desire  their  communication 
or  retain  them  when  they  come,  so  that  she  may  keep  herself 
free,  denuded,  pure  and  simple,  as  is  required  for  union  with 
God."3 

The  reason  of  this  is  plain.  Besides  that  imaginative 
visions  are  subject  to  the  risk  of  diabolical  illusion,  all  these 
"  forms,  from  the  fact  that  they  are  perceived,  are  confined 
to  the  modes  and  manners  of  limitation,"  whereas  the  divine 
wisdom  knows  "  no  limit  of  form,  species,  or  image."     The 

1  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  Book  II,  chap,  x,  Vol.  I,  p.  91. 

2  ibid.  St  John  of  the  Cross  makes  an  exception,  however,  in  the 
"  very  rare  "  cases  in  which  a  director  might  judge  otherwise  (p.  98). 

3  ibid.,  chap,  xiv,  pp.  120-121.  St  John  of  the  Cross  distinguishes 
between   "  imagination  "  and  "  fancy,"  ibid.,  chap.   xi. 


St  3obn  of  tbe  Cross  193 

soul  can  only  unite  with  it  on  condition  of  not  being  "  en- 
closed in"  a  particular  form.1 

As  much  must  be  said,  a  fortiori,  of  the  images  shaped  in 
our  minds  by  the  normal  and  natural  play  of  imagination. 
"  All  these  images  and  perceptions  must  be  cast  out  of  the 
soul,  for  she  must  become  dark,  in  this  sense,  to  attain  lo 
divine  union."2  However,  since  meditation,  which  is  a  dis- 
cursive exercise,  belongs  to  the  sphere  of  the  imagination, 
beginners  will  make  use  of  this  faculty.  It  will  also  be 
used  sometimes  during  the  period  of  first  arriving  at  con- 
templation. But  as  soon  as  contemplation  has  become 
habitual,  imagination  must  finally  go  into  the  night.3 

Lastly,  we  come  to  the  very  innermost  of  the  soul,  wherein 
purely  spiritual  perceptions  take  place.  Here  again  St  John 
of  the  Cross  demands  entire  denudation.  No  idea,  however 
spiritual,  can  enable  us  to  contemplate  God,  for  it  is  neces- 
sarily imperfect  and  limited.  The  mind  must  be  put  "  in  the 
Night  of  faith." 

But  there  are  purely  spiritual  perceptions  of  the  super- 
natural order,  to  wit :  intellectual  visions,  revelations,  interior 
words,  and  spiritual  feelings.  Moreover,  such  phenomena, 
when  divine,  produce  happy  results  in  the  soul.  Neverthe- 
less, St  John  of  the  Cross  will  not  have  us  seek  for  nor  desire 
them.  He  goes  much  farther.  He  counsels  us  to  forget  the 
forms  and  the  impressions  left  by  intellectual  visions.  We 
must  go  to  God  in  the  negation  of  everything.4  We  must 
also  forget  revelations  and  interior  words.  "  It  is  better 
always  to  go  to  God  by  unknowing."5  The  saint  incessantly 
advises  the  soul  to  keep  to  herself  "  prudently  all  these  com- 
munications, if  she  would  reach,  pure  and  free  from  illusion, 
by  the  night  of  faith,  unto  union  with  God."6 

As  we  see,  St  John  of  the  Cross  would  have  the  soul 
renounce  all  that  is  below  mystical  union  properly  so  called  ; 
she  is  to  renounce  visions  and  other  like  phenomena  which 
might  create  illusion.  Thus  does  the  saint  react  against 
illuminism. 


St  John  of  the  Cross  has  just  given  us  a  description  of  the 
Dark  Night  of  the  understanding.     We  have  now  to  learn 

1  Although  St  John  of  the  Cross  is  unfavourable  to  visions  and 
other  imaginative  perceptions,  he  does  not  deny  that  the  saints  had 
some  that  were  real.  He  attempts  to  characterize  them,  and  he  affirms 
that  even  those  which  come  from  God  may  give  rise  to  errors.  See 
ibid.,  Book  II,  chaps,  xv-xx. 

2  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  ibid.,  chap,  xi,  p.  99. 

3  ibid.,  Book  II,  chaps,  xi-xiii. 

4  ibid.,  Book  II,  chap,  xxii,  pp.  179-189. 

6  ibid.,  chap,  xxiv,  p.  190.  "  ibid.,  chap,  xxv,  p.  194. 

III.  13 


194  Christian  Spirituality 

of  the  Night  of  the  memory  and  of  the  will.1  We  must  re- 
member that  the  whole  soul  has  to  pass  through  the  purga- 
tory of  purification. 

It  is  faith  that  has  stripped  the  understanding  and  made 
it  enter  into  the  night.  It  is  hope  that  will  create  "  in 
memory  the  void  of  all  possession,"  and  it  is  charity  that  will 
produce  "  the  void  in  the  will,  the  stripping  away  of  every 
affection  for  and  joy  in  what  is  not  God."2  For — and  John 
of  the  Cross  constantly  repeats  this  with  the  Areopagite — 
"  just  as  the  soul  must  know  God  rather  by  what  is  not  than 
by  what  is,  so  must  it  go  towards  him  rather  by  denial  than 
by  admission  ;  it  must  reject  the  least  of  the  perceptions, 
whether  natural  or  supernatural,  which  it  might  conceive 
of  him."3 

The  memory  must  therefore  get  rid  of  all  impressions  and 
memories  which  come  to  it  through  the  five  bodily  senses, 
"  so  that  no  trace  of  them  is  left  therein,  and  that  it  may 
remain  as  void  and  clear  as  possible,  as  if  nothing  had  come 
through  it,  in  its  forgetfulness  and  freedom  from  every- 
thing."4 Thus  will  the  soul  be  delivered  from  the  evil 
memories  left  by  the  world,  distractions  will  be  fewer,  and 
the  temptations  of  the  devil  less  readily  arise.  Peace  and 
tranquillity  of  mind  will  be  more  secure. 

If  memory  retains  supernatural  memories  of  visions, 
revelations,  and  interior  words,  even  though  of  divine  origin, 
they,  too,  must  be  got  rid  of.  St  John  of  the  Cross  regards 
them  as  "an  obstacle  to  divine  union  in  pure  and  perfect 
hope."6  For  he  considers  that  it  is  hope  that  "  empties  and 
darkens  the  memory,"  and  of  this  he  gives  the  following 
somewhat  subtle  explanation  : 

"  To  hope  for  a  thing  is  not  to  possess  it,  and  the  less  we 
possess  it  the  greater  is  our  capacity  and  readiness  for 
expecting  what  we  hope  for,  and  the  more  perfect  is  our  hope. 
On  this  principle,  it  is  in  proportion  to  the  divestment  of  the 
memory,  setting  aside  the  forms  and  memories  which  are  not 
God,  that  it  will  immerse  itself  the  more  in  God,  and  will 
prepare  a  greater  void  for  the  hope  that  God  will  fill  it 
completely. 

"  To  live  in  pure  and  perfect  hope  in  God  we  must  there- 
fore not  stop  short  at  cognitions,  forms,  and  distinct  images 
— as  we  have  explained.  Whenever  they  occur  we  must 
immediately  turn  our  soul,  free  from  all  that,  to  God  in  an 
impulse  of  tender  love."6 

1  This  is  the  subject  of   Book   III  of  the  Ascent  of  Mount   Carmel, 
Vol.  II,  p.  i-iio. 

2  Book  II,  chap,  v,  Vol.  I,  p.  73. 

3  Book  III,  chap,  i,  Vol.  II,  p.  4.  *  Ascent,  ibid.,  p.  5. 
6  Book  III,  chap,  vi,  Vol.  II,  p.  19. 

*  Book  III,  chap,  xiv,  Vol.  II,  pp.  33-34. 


St  3obn  of  tbe  Cross  195 

Memories  must  only  be  recalled  so  far  as  the  fulfilment  of 
our  duties  requires.  Then  the  Spirit  of  God  will  tell  us  what 
we  ought  to  know.1 


It  is  by  charity  that  the  will  is  purified  in  the  Dark  Night 
of  the  spirit.  This  virtue  "  makes  a  void  in  all  the  things 
of  the  will,  since  it  binds  us  to  love  God  above  all  things, 
and  that  is  only  realised  by  renouncing  everything  so  as  to 
refer  everything  to  God."2 

To  throw  such  renunciation  into  full  relief,  St  John  of  the 
Cross  explains  in  four  short  treatises  how  the  will  should 
mortify  the  four  passions  characteristic  of  it :  joy,  hope, 
grief,  and  fear.  Of  these  four  treatises  only  one  has  survived, 
and  that  is  unfinished.  It  teaches  us  how  the  will  is  purified 
of  the  enjoyment  of  supernatural  and  spiritual  goods.3  The 
counsels  given  by  the  saint  for  attaining  to  the  entire  re- 
nunciation of  the  will  present  no  peculiarity. 

However,  we  note  in  the  last  chapters  of  the  Treatise  on 
the  Will,  his  astonishing  insistence  upon  renouncing  the  "  en- 
joyment "  of  supernatural  favours  which  are  inferior  to  the 
mystical  union  that  God  sometimes  grants."1  His  first  editors 
were  alarmed  at  it,  and  they  found  it  necessary  to  explain 
and  justify  his  line  of  thought.  The  reasons  for  such  detach- 
ment given  by  St  John  of  the  Cross  do  not,  indeed,  appear 
to  suffice.  The  favours  received  may  certainly,  as  he  says, 
contribute  to  the  soul's  amour-propre  and  lead  it  to  forget 
God  for  the  sole  sake  of  sensible  consolations.  But  such 
dangers  as  these  are  met  with  in  every  age.  Spiritual  writers 
have  warned  the  faithful  against  them,  yet  have  not  required 
them  to  renounce  the  enjoyment  of  such  favours  when  God 
willed  to  grant  them.  When  St  Teresa  spoke  of  "  the  joys 
and  consolations  afforded  by  meditation,"  she  said,  "  they 
are  to  be  highly  esteemed,  provided  that  humility  makes  it 
plainly  understood  that  we  are  none  the  better  for  them."5 
Hence  we  may  consider  that  when  St  John  of  the  Cross 
pushed  renunciation  to  the  point  of  rigorism,  he  wanted  to 
react  against   the  false  mysticism  of  the   Alumbrados,   who 

1  St  John  of  the  Cross  explains  (Book  III,  chap,  i)  how  those  whose 
memory  is  thus  stripped  may  still  act  and  fulfil  their  duties.  God 
makes  it  up  to  them  and  "reminds  them  of  what  they  have  to  re- 
member." 

2  Book  II,  chap,  v,  Vol.  I,  p.  74. 

3  Book  III,  chaps,  xv-xliv.  St  John  of  the  Cross  here  refutes  Pro- 
testant theories  counter  to  the  worship  of  images. 

4  Yet  St  John  of  the  Cross  does  not  demand  the  renunciation  of 
enjoyment  arising  from  mystical  union  through  contemplation  of  the 
divine  Essence.  He  describes  this  joy  in  The  Living  Flame  of  Love 
and  in  The  Spiritual  Canticle. 

5  St  Teresa,  Castle,  Fourth  Mansion,  chap,  i,  (Euvres,  VI,  p.  100. 
Cf.  pp.  91-93.     Way  of  Perfection,  chap,  xxviii. 


196  Cbrlsttan  Spirituality 

thought  that  spiritual  joys  were  the   sum  and  substance  of 
piety. 

He  requires  of  the  contemplative  under  his  guidance  every 
kind  of  mortification  and  detachment;  nothing  must  be  left 
that  is  not  God.  Well  did  he  deserve  the  name  of  the  doctor 
of  Nada  (Nothing),  as  they  liked  to  call  him  in  Spain.1 

C — "Spiritual"  or  Active  "Contemplation" 

When  the  soul's  purification  is  finished  and  when  it  has 
passed  through  the  Night  of  the  Senses  and  of  the  Spirit,  it 
will  be  able  to  contemplate  God. 

This  contemplation,  which  is  prepared  for  by  active  purifi- 
cations, is  not  as  yet  infused  or  passive  contemplation,  for 
the  latter  will  be  preceded  by  passive  purifications.  It  is 
called  active  contemplation,  because  anyone  led  by  ordinary 
grace  can  attain  thereto  by  using  the  ordinary  means.2 
St  John  of  the  Cross  calls  it  "  spiritual  contemplation,"  be- 
cause "  the  spiritual  senses  alone  are  in  action  therein." 

This  is  how  he  explains  "this  matter"  which,  he  says, 
was  "  rarely  dealt  with  "  in  his  time. 

Between  discursive  prayer — i.e.,  meditation  in  which  im- 
agination and  "  the  sensitive  powers  "  are  in  action — and 
infused  or  mystical  contemplation,  there  is  an  intermediate 
kind.  This  is  "  spiritual  "  contemplation.  It  consists  "  in 
gently  imposing  silence  at  the  opportune  moment  on  the 
understanding,  and  in  keeping  quiet  in  faith  while  fastening 
our  spiritual  gaze  affectionately  upon  God,  rejoicing  in  the 
contemplation  of  him,  and  realizing  that  God,  too,  is  looking 
on  us  and  helping  us  in  our  contemplation.3  It  is  "con- 
templation or  the  simple  regard  with  the  spiritual  powers."4 
Later  on  it  is  called  the  prayer  of  simplicity  or  of  simple 
regard. 

In  it  imagination,  memory,  and  understanding  are  at  rest : 
"  the  soul  is  glad  to  find  itself  alone  with  God,  fixing  its 
attention  lovingly  upon  him  without  any  particular  considera- 
tion, with  inward  peace,  quiet,  and  repose,  without  any  acts 
or  exercises  of  a  really  discursive  kind  of  the  powers — the 
understanding,  the  memory,  and  the  will — through  the  asso- 
ciation of  ideas.  It  is  contented  with  knowing  and  with  a 
general  and  loving  attention  .  .  .  without  any  particular  per- 
ception of  anything  else."5 

The  repose  of  the  powers  of  the  soul  is  facilitated  by  the 

1  Nada  — nothing,  constantly  occurs  in  his  Maxims. 

2  Cf.  H.  Hoornaert,  Introduction  to  CEuvres,  I,  pp.  xii  ff . ;  III,  pp. 
xix  ff. 

8  Ascent,  Vox.  Ill,  p.  xxi. 

*  Ascent,  Book  II,  chap,  xii,  Vol.  I,  p.  109. 

8  Ascent,  ibid.,  chap,  xi,  p.  104. 


St  3o\m  of  tbe  Cross  197 

purification  to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  This  general 
and  loving-  knowledge  of  God  is  the  result  of  faith  ;  it  is  a 
"  spiritual  light  striking  the  eyes  of  the  soul  which  are  the 
understanding."1  With  the  help  of  this  light,  the  soul  looks 
at  and  contemplates  God.  This  look  and  this  contemplation 
are  obscure  like  faith  itself.  They  are  not  vision,  as  is  some- 
times the  case  in  mystical  union  ;  for  here  we  have  nothing 
extraordinary  or  supernatural  so  far  as  it  is  a  state  of  prayer. 

When  the  soul  is  quite  pure  and  stripped  of  cognitions 
and  particular  notions  that  may  affect  the  understanding  or 
the  senses,  this  light  is  in  itself  particularly  clear,  pure, 
simple,  and  perfect.2  The  light  of  faith  entirely  permeates 
the  soul. 

"  Imagine  the  sun  shining  on  a  window-pane,"  says  St 
John  of  the  Cross;  "  if  the  glass  is  darkened  with  spots  or 
dirty  straws,  the  rays  will  not  succeed  in  shining  through  it 
and  in  completely  transfusing  it  with  light,  which  is  what 
would  take  place  if  the  pane  was  clean  and  free  from  all  grime. 
It  would  not  be  the  fault  of  the  sunshine,  but  of  the  window- 
pane.  If  it  were  quite  clean  and  clear  the  light  would  trans- 
form it ;  it  would  shine  with  the  same  brightness  as  the  rays 
of  the  sun  which  transfused  it."3 

In  this  kind  of  contemplation  the  soul  is  in  action.  It  not 
only  uses  effort  for  preparation  for  it,  but  also  to  put  itself 
into  such  a  state  and  to  keep  therein  as  long  as  was  intended. 
This  exercise  is  not  in  the  same  case  as  mystical  contempla- 
tion, which  depends  upon  God  alone. 

When  must  discursive  prayer  be  given  up  for  contempla- 
tion? St  John  of  the  Cross  considers  that  the  time  is 
determined  by  the  difficulty  found  in  fixing  one's  imagination 
and  senses  upon  some  particular  subject,  by  the  disappearance 
of  all  relish  for  reflections,  and  especially  by  a  persistent  desire 
for  "the  repose  of  contemplative  knowledge."4  However, 
"  it  is  profitable,  when  we  first  enjoy  a  general  knowledge  of 
contemplation,  sometimes  to  resume  discursive  meditation 
and  the  use  of  the  natural  faculties."5    Discursive  meditation 

1  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,   chap,  xii,  p.   no.  *  ibid.,  p.  109. 

3  Ascent,  Book  II,  chap,  iv,  Vol.  I,  pp.  70-71.     Cf.  chap.  xii. 

*  These  three  signs  of  readiness  to  give  up  discursive  meditation  are 
classic  in  spiritual  writers.  Here  is  the  statement  of  St  John  of  the 
Cross:  "First  sign:  Meditation  becomes  impracticable,  the  imagina- 
tion is  inert,  the  relish  for  this  exercise  vanishes,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  the  thing  imagined  has  changed  to  aridity.  .  .  .  Second  sign  : 
This  appears  in  an  entire  lack  of  the  desire  to  fasten  either  the  imagina- 
tion or  the  senses  on  any  particular  subject,  either  inward  or  out- 
ward. .  .  .  Third  sign :  This  is  the  most  decisive  one  :  the  soul  takes 
pleasure  in  finding  itself  alone  with  God,  fastening  its  attention  upon 
him  without  any  particular  consideration.  .  .  ."  Ascent,  Book  II, 
chap,  xi,  Vol.  I,  pp.  103-104. 

8  ibid.,  chap,  xiii,  p.  115. 


1 98  Cbristfau  Spirituality 

is  the  way  to  prepare  for  active  contemplation  ;  it  purifies  the 
powers  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  it  is  not  a  good  thing-  to 
leave  it  altogether  until  contemplation  has  become  habitual. 

II— PASSIVE  PURIFICATIONS  WHICH  PREPARE 
THE  WAY  FOR  MYSTICAL  UNION  TRULY  SO 
CALLED,    FOR    INFUSED   CONTEMPLATION 

"  After  having  begun  the  ascent  of  Mount  Carmel,  in 
following  the  Narrow  Way  of  the  five  renunciations  (the 
senses,  the  imagination,  the  understanding,  the  memory,  and 
the  will),  by  active  contemplation  the  soul  attains  to  enter 
into  the  mystical  life,  and  is  henceforth  led  by  God  himself 
in  the  passive  ways.  The  new  progress  of  the  soul  hence- 
forth depends  upon  the  vocation  given  it  by  God's  special 
leadings  and  upon  its  correspondence  with  the  graces  im- 
parted to  it."1 

The  end  of  such  graces  is  to  purify  the  soul  passively  and 
thoroughly.  Human  nature  is  sinful.  Even  when  purified 
from  its  faults  their  root  remains.  Simple  purification  from 
voluntary  manifestations  of  sin  suffices  for  active  contempla- 
tion. The  very  roots  of  sin  must  be  extirpated  for  infused 
contemplation,  which  unites  the  soul  to  God  in  a  supereminent 
way. 

The  soul  which  is  destined  for  mystical  union  will  therefore 
enter  into  a  special  Dark  Night,  wherein,  through  great 
suffering,  it  will  undergo  an  "  essential  "  purification.  Such 
is  the  subject  of  the  work  which  St  John  of  the  Cross  calls 
The  Dark  Night,  a  night  not  to  be  confounded  with  that  of 
The  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel.  Here  we  find  the  most  original 
part  of  the  mysticism  of  our  saint,  and  in  it  he  describes  the 
passive  purifications  of  the  senses  and  of  the  spirit  very  fully. 

A — The  Passive  Purification  of  the  Senses  or 
Passive  Night  of  the  Senses 

The  purification  or  passive  night  of  the  senses  "  eliminates 
the  principal  imperfections  which  have  withstood  (in  The 
Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel)  personal  endeavour  and  ordinary 
grace."2  These  imperfections  are  our  innate  inclinations  to 
cling  to  sensible  consolations  in  spiritual  work. 

1  H.  Hoornaert,  (Euvres  spirit  uelles  de  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  Vol.  Ill, 
Preface,  p.  xxx.  St  John  of  the  Cross  writes  at  the  beginning  of  the 
First  Book  of  The  Dark  Night :  "  The  soul  has  just  come  out  of  the 
Narrow  Way  by  the  purification  due  to  its  own  activity.  It  is  united 
to  God,  while  retaining  certain  imperfections,  and  if  God  call  it  to  a 
higher  spiritual  life,  he  will  subject  it  to  a  twofold  passive  purification 
(of  the  senses  and  of  the  spirit)."     Vol.  Ill,  p.  3. 

2  Dark  Night,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  3. 


St  3obn  ot  tbe  Cross  199 

"  Many  people  think,"  says  St  John  of  the  Cross,  "  that 
spirituality  consists  in  being-  faithful  to  practices  [that  yield 
consolations].  .  .  .  Nevertheless,  in  a  really  spiritual  sense, 
what  they  do  is  very  feeble  and  imperfect.  The  motive  of 
such  practices  and  exercises  is  consolation,  the  attraction 
which  charms  them.  Since  their  hearts  have  not  been  trained 
by  arduous  struggles  in  the  practice  of  virtue,  even  in 
spiritual  works  they  commit  faults  and  incur  numerous  im- 
perfections."1 

St  John  of  the  Cross  sets  forth  "  these  numerous  imper- 
fections in  order  and  in  their  relations  to  the  seven  capital 
sins."2  God  banishes  them  by  "purifying  aridity"  into 
which  he  plunges  the  soul,  which  suddenly  loses  all  its 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  religious  exercises  :  it  finds 
nothing  but  aridity. 

But  here  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  illusion.  These 
aridities  are  not  always  solely  intended  to  purify  the  sensitive 
appetite;  they  may  also  be  the  result  of  "  sin,  imperfection, 
lack  of  energy,  lukewarmness,  and  even  of  an  unruly  humour 
and  bodily  indisposition."3  How  can  we  tell  whether  they 
are  really  purifying  or  that  they  do  not  arise  from  some  fault? 

St  John  of  the  Cross  gives  us  three  signs.  First,  the  soul 
which  is  undergoing  passive  purification  no  longer  finds  any 
taste  for  or  consolation  in  creatures  rather  than  in  or  for 
things  divine  ;  the  dark  night  of  the  sensitive  appetite  is  com- 
plete. Next,  it  retains  "  usually  in  the  thought  of  God  an 
uneasiness  and  a  painful  anxiety."  It  fears  that  it  is  not 
doing  enough  for  the  Lord  and  that  it  is  losing  ground. 
Lastly,  discursive  meditation  becomes  more  and  more 
difficult.  People  in  this  state  suffer  keenly.  They  think  they 
are  on  the  wrong  road  and  that  God  is  abandoning  them. 
They  need  enlightened  and  comforting  direction ;  and  if  they 
find  it  they  will  make  great  spiritual  progress.4 

B — Passive  Purification  of  the  Spirit  or  Passive 
Night  of  the  Spirit 

The  passive  night  of  the  senses  precedes  and  prepares  the 
way  for  the  passive  night  of  the  spirit.  This  "  is  exceptional 
in  its  full  manifestation  ;  and  its  frightful  torments  are  com- 
pensated for  by  marvellous  graces."6  Taken  by  itself  it 
prepares  the  soul  for  the  highest  union  with  God.     "  It  is  but 

1  Dark  Night,  Book  I,  §  i,  CEuvres,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  7.  I  take  no  notice 
of  the  division  of  the  treatise  into  strophes. 

2  ibid.,  p.  8.  Thus  there  is  spiritual  pride,  spiritual  avarice,  spiritual 
anger,  spiritual  greediness,  spiritual  envy  and  idleness.  Book  I,  ii- 
viii,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  8-27. 

3  ibid.,  Book  I,  x,  p.  29. 

*  ibid.,  Book  I,  xi  ff.,  pp.  34-53. 
s  ibid.,  Book  II,  i,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  54. 


200  Cbristiau  Spirituality 

rarely  experienced,  and  little  has  been  written  or  taught 
about  it." 

According-  to  St  John  of  the  Cross,  "  the  soul  which  is 
called  by  God  to  the  highest  perfection  does  not  enter  into 
the  night  of  the  spirit  as  soon  as  it  has  passed  out  "  of  that 
of  the  senses.  "  An  indefinite  period,  which  may  last  for 
years,"  "  usually"  comes  between  the  two  nights.  During 
this  interval,  God  prepares  and  comforts  the  soul  with 
raptures,  ecstasies,  or  revelations,  before  introducing  it  into 
the  fearful  night  of  the  spirit.1 

As  soon  as  the  soul  is  about  to  enter  into  it,  purification 
begins. 

Even  after  the  passive  night  of  the  senses,  there  remain 
habitual  imperfections  which  "  resemble  roots  left  in  the 
spirit  where  the  purification  of  the  senses  has  been  unable 
to  reach."  When  we  have  cut  down  a  tree  we  have  not  torn 
out  its  roots.  Still  harder  work  remains  to  be  done.  Further, 
besides  such  habitual  imperfections,  even  in  those  who  enter 
into  the  passive  night  of  the  spirit,  there  are  a  few  actual 
imperfections  arising  from  their  lack  of  an  entirely  pure 
intention.2    Their  old  man  has  not  yet  altogether  disappeared. 

[In  order  to  annihilate  it]  "  God  deprives  these  proficients 
[in  the  mystical  ways]  of  their  powers,  affections,  and  senses, 
both  spiritual  and  sensible,  both  inward  and  outward,  leaving 
the  understanding  in  darkness,  the  will  in  aridity,  the  memory 
with  no  recollections,  and  the  spiritual  affections  over- 
whelmed with  grief,  bitterness,  and  anguish.  They  have 
neither  feeling  nor  relish  for  the  spiritual  goods  which 
formerly  attracted  them,  and  God  uses  this  deprivation  as  a 
requisite  of  the  spirit  to  make  room  for  the  spiritual  form 
which  is  loving  union.  Our  Lord  works  all  this  in  the  soul 
by  a  pure  and  obscure  sort  of  contemplation.3  .  .  . 

"  This  dark  night  is  a  divine  influence  in  the  soul  which 
purifies  it  of  its  ignorance  and  its  habitual  imperfections. 
Contemplatives  call  it  infused  contemplation  and  mystical 
theology,  wherein  God  teaches  the  soul  secretly  and  in  the 
perfection  of  love,  without  any  intervention  of  its  own  and 
without  its  knowing  wherein  this  infused  contemplation  con- 
sists."4 

This  contemplation  puts  the  understanding  in  the  dark,  the 
"  divine  darkness  "  of  which  the  Areopagite  has  so  much  to 
say.  It  also  brings  about  sufferings  and  torments  in  every 
part  of  the  soul,  and  afflictions  and  tortures  in  the  will.  In 
fact,  infused  contemplation  "  darkens  the  spirit"  by  its  too 
great  light.  "  The  more  we  want  to  look  at  the  sun  the 
weaker  grows  our  sight,   and  our  enfeebled  eyes  are  filled 

1  Dark  Night,   pp.  55-56.  2  ibid.,  pp.  57-58. 

8  ibid.,  Book  II,  iii,  Vol.   ITI,  p.  60. 
4  ibid.,  p.  62. 


St  3obn  of  tbe  Cross  201 

with  darkness."  Thus  is  it  with  contemplation  before  the 
soul  is  entirely  purified.  The  divine  light  cast  into  the  soul 
by  God  is  in  excess  of  its  capacity,  and  is  therefore  dark  so 
far  as  it  is  concerned.  This  explains  why  the  enlightening 
brightness  of  divine  wisdom  produces  "  profound  darkness  in 
the  mind."1  It  is  because  of  its  impurity  that  the  spiritual 
vision  cannot  endure  such  brightness ;  the  soul  is  keenly 
conscious  of  it,  and  therefore  suffers  much. 

The  other  sufferings  are  still  more  excruciating.  One  of 
them  is  "  inexplicable,"  says  St  John  of  the  Cross.  It  is  the 
impression  of  being  invaded  by  the  divine  that  destroys  all 
the  remnants  of  the  old  man.  It  is  God  who  thus  transforms 
the  soul  into  himself.  The  soul  is  absorbed  "in  a  deep  and 
absolute  darkness  so  as  to  feel  melted  and  annihilated  in  a 
cruel  death  of  the  spirit." 

"  It  feels,"  says  the  saint,  "  as  if  it  were  being  swallowed 
alive  by  some  beast,  and  digested  in  its  dark  belly  with  the 
anguish  experienced  by  Jonas  in  the  hollow  recesses  of  the 
great  sea-monster.  And  it  has  to  pass  through  this  dark 
death  to  attain  to  its  expected  resurrection."2 

At  the  same  time  it  feels — and  this  is  another  great  suffer- 
ing— "  a  profound  emptiness,  a  cruel  dearth  of  the  three 
kinds  of  goods  capable  of  comforting  it — i.e.,  temporal, 
natural,  and  spiritual  blessings."  Just  as  fire  eats  away  the 
rust  from  iron,  thus  does  God  thoroughly  purify  the  internal 
and  external  powers  of  their  inclination  towards  such  goods  ; 
and  as  such  attractions  are  deeply  rooted  in  the  substance  of 
the  soul,  it  is  subjected  to  the  "  torment  of  an  inward  dis- 
#  assimilation  which  is  added  "  to  the  distressful  impression  of 
■absolute  emptiness. 

"To  do  away  with  the  rust  of  the  [imperfect]  affections 
in  the  centre  of  the  soul,  it  must  somehow  destroy  and 
annihilate  itself,  since  its  passions  and  imperfections  have 
become  a  part  of  its  nature.  .  .  .  The  soul  must  pass,  like 
gold,  through  the  crucible. 

"  By  these  trials  does  God  humiliate  the  soul  profoundly 
to  prepare  it  for  the  great  exaltation  in  store  for  it.  .  .  . 
The  contemplation  of  its  inward  unworthiness  sometimes 
reaches  a  point  so  keen  that  the  soul  sees  hell  open  to  swallow 
it  up  for  ever.  Of  such  souls  it  may  be  said  that  they  literally 
go  down  alive  into  hell  [purgatory]  ;  they  are  purified  on 
earth  in  the  same  way  as  down  there.  .  .  .  Hence  it  is  that 
a  soul  thus  treated  on  earth  either  escapes  the  place  of 
expiation  in  the  other  world  or  stays  in  it  scarcely  at  all; 
and  an  hour  of  such  suffering  in  this  life  is  far  more 
efficacious  than  many  hours  of  purification  after  death."3 

1  Dark  Night,  ibid.,  p.  63.  2  ibid.,  pp.  65-66. 

3  ibid.,  pp.  67-69.     On  the  mystical  purgatory,  see  pp.  93-96. 


202  Cbristfan  Spirituality 

In  this  state  of  anguish  and  affliction  the  soul  believes  that 
it  is  abandoned  for  ever  by  God  whom  it  formerly  served  with 
happiness.  Temptations  to  despair  assail  it  violently,  though 
it  is  convinced  that  it  loves  God  and  that  it  would  give  a 
thousand  lives  for  his  sake. 

"  As  the  soul  finds  itself  very  miserable,  it  cannot  be 
persuaded  that  God  can  love  it  now  or  ever.  In  it  there  is 
nothing  except  that  which  fills  it  with  horror,  a  hopeless 
horror  of  God  and  of  all  things.  Hence  it  suffers  from  seeing 
within  itself  nothing  but  reasons  justifying  its  being  forsaken 
by  him  whom  it  passionately  loves  and  desires."1 

Prayer  becomes  very  difficult,  for  the  soul  "  can  no  longer, 
as  formerly,  rise  to  God  either  in  mind  or  heart."  If  it  does 
happen  to  pray,  "  it  is  with  such  aridity  as  to  think  that  God 
neither  hearkens  to  it  nor  takes  any  notice  of  it."2 


This  very  detailed  description  of  the  mystical  purgatory  is 
plainly  taken  from  the  experience  of  St  John  of  the  Cross. 
If  God  wills  certain  souls  to  pass  through  such  sufferings  it 
is  because  he  intends  to  load  them  with  favours.  This  hope 
sustains  them  in  their  cruel  trial.  St  John  of  the  Cross  thus 
explains  the  favours  which  are  the  happy  results  of  this 
passive  night. 

"  If  it  [the  night]  darkens  the  spirit,"  he  says,  "  it  is  to 
enlighten  it  about  everything;  if  it  humiliates  it  and  makes  it 
miserable,  it  is  to  exalt  it  and  set  it  free  ;  if  it  impoverishes 
it  and  strips  it  of  all  natural  possessions  and  affections,  it  is 
to  enable  it  to  relish  divinely  the  sweetness  of  all  the  blessings 
of  heaven  and  earth."3 

The  soul  is  wholly  transformed  into  heavenly  fire  by  infused 
contemplation,  just  as — according  to  a  comparison  of  Hugh 
of  vSt  Victor  repeated  by  St  John  of  the  Cross — wood  is 
transformed  into  fire  by  burning.4  In  this  dark  night  of 
sorrowful  contemplation  the  spiritual  fire  of  love  begins  to 
inflame  the  soul.  It  is  the  awakening  of  divine  love.  While 
the  understanding  remains  in  total  darkness  the  soul  is 
"  very  sharply  wounded  "  by  that  love.  All  its  powers  and 
appetites  being  altogether  severed  from  their  natural  objects, 
they  are  exclusively  concentrated  in  this  inflaming  of  love." 

"  It  is  possible,"  says  St  John  of  the  Cross,  "  to  form  some 
notion  of  this  inflaming  of  love  in  the  spirit,  in  the  centre  in 
which  God  makes  all  the  powers,  the  faculties  and  appetites 
of  the  soul,  both  spiritual  and  sensitive,  converge  in  a  mighty 
harmony  of  powers  and  virtues,  having  no  other  object  than 
his  love  alone.     Thus  it  is  that  the  soul  comes  to  fulfil  really 

1  Dark  Night,  Book  II,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  76. 

3  ibid.,  p.  76.  8  ibid.,  p.  80.  4  ibid.,  pp.  85-89. 


St  Boibtt  of  tbe  Cross  203 

the  first  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  which  excludes  all  that 
remains  of  man's  self-love  :  Diliges  Dominum  Deum  luum  ex 
toto  corde  tuo  et  ex  tota  anima  tua  et  ex  tota  fortitudine  tua: 

Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart,  ami 
with    thy   whole   soul,   and  with   thy   whole   strength   (Deut. 

Those  who  have  undergone  these  passive  purifications 
really  love  God  with  an  unmixed  love.  Whatever  they  do  or 
think  in  the  different  situations  in  which  they  are,  they 
"only  love  in  various  ways."  This  is  the  life  of  love  in  its 
truest  sense,  the  life  of  those  who  have  reached  the  top  of 
Mount  Carmel.2 

C — Passive  or  Infused  Contemplation 

I  have  dealt  with  the  passive  purifications  at  some  length, 
because  they  are  the  most  novel  part  of  the  teaching  of  St 
John  of  the  Cross.     Mystical  union  will  not  need  such  space. 

It  is  specially  treated  in  The  Living  Flame  of  Love  and  in 
The  Spiritual  Canticle.  Yet  these  two  works  are  entirely 
independent  of  The  Ascent  of  Mount  Carmel  and  The  Dark 
Night.  Their  teaching  is  not  presented  as  the  climax  of  the 
purifications  of  the  senses  and  of  the  spirit.  The  work  of  the 
saint,  which  included  the  normal  sequel  of  these  purifications 
and  described  "  the  wonderful  effects  of  the  spiritual  en- 
lightenment and  of  the  union  of  love  with  God,"  is  lost. 
Hence  we  are  obliged  to  substitute  for  it  The  Living  Flame 
and  The  Spiritual  Canticle,3  the  subject  of  which  is  analogous. 

These  two  works  are  hymns  divided  into  strophes.  They 
are  full  of  lyrical  feeling.  They  should  be  read  :  they  cannot 
be  analyzed  any  more  than  the  divine  love  which  is  their 
theme. 


The  union  of  love  takes  place  in  the  centre  of  the  soul.* 
Thus  does  St  John  of  the  Cross  name  the  higher  part  of  the 
soul,  "the  seat  of  the  theological  virtues."  Other  mystics 
call  it  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  the  summit  of  the  sold,   the 

1  Dark  Night,  Book  II,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  90-91. 

2  At  the  end  of  The  Dark  Night,  St  John  of  the  Cross  notes  further 
effects  of  the  passive  purification  of  the  spirit  in  his  explanation  of 
the  end  of  the  first  strophe  and  of  the  second  strophe  of  Book  II.  His 
style  is  particularly  obscure  and  mannered.  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  102-141. 
These  effects  are  included  in  those  previously  described. 

3  Part  III  of  The  Canticle  deals  with  the  unitive  way  and  the 
spiritual  marriage,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  139  ff.  Part  I  treats  of  the  dispositions 
which  are  indispensable  for  the  marriage,  Part  II  of  "  the  spiritual 
betrothal." 

4  St  John  of  the  Cross  also  uses  other  analogous  expressions  :  the 
substance  of  the  soul,  the  higher  fart  of  the  spirit,  the  innermost  fart 
of  the  sfirit,  the  heart  of  the  soul.     Vol,  III,  pp.  148  ff. 


204  Cbrlsttan  Spirituality 

highest  part  of  the  spirit,  the  highest  point  (or  apex)  of  the 
reason.  There  take  place  assent  to  revealed  truths  and  the 
union  of  man's  spirit  with  God. 

This  centre  of  the  soul  is  inaccessible  to  the  senses  and 
to  the  devil.  After  the  passive  purifications,  the  soul  is 
completely  freed  from  the  senses.  Furthermore,  in  these 
passive  states  "  the  soul  does  nothing-  of  itself  "  ;  it  has  "  to 
do  nothing-  but  receive  what  comes  from  God.  In  the  centre 
of  the  soul  he  alone  can  set  it  in  motion  and  operate  without 
the  intervention  of  the  senses."1  Here  we  must  call  to  mind 
the  German  theories  of  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  remarking 
well  that  St  John  of  the  Cross  was  able  to  avoid  any  discon- 
certing expression. 

Divine  love  is  unifying  and  transforming.  The  more  it 
increases  in  the  soul  the  more  perfectly  does  it  unite  it  with 
God  and  transform  it  into  him.  A  moment  comes — but 
never  fully  in  this  life — when  the  soul  is  transformed  into 
God  in  its  innermost  centre  : 

"  If  it  [the  soul]  attains  to  the  highest  [degree  of  love], 
divine  love  will  have  wounded  it  in  its  deepest  centre,  and 
this  will  mean  the  transformation  of  the  soul,  the  illumina- 
tion of  its  whole  being  according  to  the  power  and  the  desire 
of  which  it  is  capable,  and  to  such  a  point  that  it  will  appear 
as  God.  It  is  then  like  a  crystal  of  extreme  purity  and  trans- 
parency in  sunlight.  The  more  bright  the  sun's  rays,  the 
more  does  the  crystal  concentrate  them  in  itself,  and  the 
more  does  it  shine ;  and  if  the  light  received  by  it  is  super- 
abundant, the  crystal  itself  will  be  confounded  with  it;  the 
rays  will  no  longer  be  perceived,  for  the  crystal  will  absorb 
their  brightness  as  far  as  it  can  and  will  appear  to  have 
become  light  itself."2 

The  soul  will  then  see  the  sweetest  relations  established 
between  the  divine  Persons  and  itself.  Its  understanding 
will  be  "  divinely  enlightened  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Son  .  .  . 
its  will  will  delight  in  the  Holy  Spirit  .  .  .  and  the  Father 
will  engulf  it  [the  soul]  mightily  and  profoundly  in  the  abyss 
of  his  love."3 

In  The  Spiritual  Canticle,  a  real  mystical  epithalamium, 
John  of  the  Cross  defines  the  object  of  the  revelations  made 
to  the  soul  enlightened  by  divine  Wisdom  : 

"  In  the  higher  life  of  the  spiritual  marriage,"  he  says, 
"  the  Spouse  readily  and  frequently  discovers  to  the  soul 
his  faithful  companion,  his  marvellous  secrets,  for  a  sincere 
and  perfect  heart  has  no  secrets  for  the  beloved.  What  he 
specially  delights  in  revealing  to  her  are  the  sweet  mysteries 
of  his  Incarnation,  and  the  dispensation  of  the  Redemption 

1  Living  Flame,  first  strophe,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  152. 

2  ibid.,  p.  154.  s  ibid.,  p.  155. 


St  -Jobn  of  tbe  Cross  205 

of  mankind;  and  as  this  work  is  amongst  the  most  astound- 
ing- of  those  of  God,  nothing  can  be  compared  with  the 
happiness  of  the  soul  who  enters  into  them."1 

As  for  the  delight  of  the  will  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  St  John 
of  the  Cross  celebrates  it  in  The  Living  Flame  of  Love.  This 
wholly  spiritual  delectation  is  now  free  from  danger :  it 
specially  belongs  to  mystical  union.  The  soul  feels  the 
Spirit  of  her  heavenly  Spouse  within  her.  He  is  not  only 
the  fire  which  consumes  her,  but  also  the  fire  which  bursts 
into  flame.  Through  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  soul 
acts,  and  is  transformed  into  the  fire  of  love.  Her  acts  are 
bursts  of  flame,  burnings  of  love  breaking  out  from  the 
divine  fire.  It  is  the  Holy  Spirit  who  stimulates  these  acts 
of  love  and  makes  the  flame  burst  forth.  "  Every  time  that 
the  flame  breaks  forth,  producing  a  divinely  sweet  and 
powerful  love  in  the  soul,  she  thinks  that  she  is  entering 
into  eternal  life  because  she  is  in  the  state  of  acting  in 
God."2 

These  divine  flames  tenderly  wound  the  soul  and  burn  her 
in  a  delightful  manner,  inflicting  wounds  of  love  upon  her. 
Wounds,  burns,  and  sores  are  sources  of  joy  to  the  soul.3 
They  appear  to  her  to  be  the  forerunners  of  death.  It  seems 
as  if  each  of  them  must  break  the  thread  of  her  earthly 
existence  to  unite  her  to  her  heavenly  Spouse  in  glory.  But 
every  time  she  is  disappointed  : 

"  O  flame  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  piercest  the  substance 
of  my  soul  so  tenderly  and  intimately,  who  burnest  her  with 
thy  glorious  heat,  how  kind  art  thou  to  show  thy  desire  to 
give  me  life  eternal  !  .  .  .  Break,  then,  the  fine  thread  of 
my  life  and  let  it  not  last  till  old  age  and  years  cut  it  in 
twain  according  to  natural  law,  so  that  I  may  love  thee 
thenceforth  in  the  fulness  and  satiety  my  soul  longs  for, 
measureless  and  unending!"4 

And  St  John  of  the  Cross  sings  on  in  all  the  tones  of 
mysticism  of  the  loving  languors  of  the  soul  burning  with 
the  desire  to  be  united  with  her  Well-beloved,  yet  kept  on 
earth  perforce. 

1  The  Spiritual  Canticle,  Part  III,  strophe  xxii,  Vol.  IV,  p.  144. 

2  The  Living  Flame,  strophe  i,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  148-149. 

3  id.,  strophe  ii.  St  John  of  the  Cross  also  calls  the  flame  of  love  a 
"  delicate  touch." 

4  id.,  strophe  i,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  170-171.  The  mystical  marriage  made 
St  Teresa  desire  to  remain  upon  earth  to  work  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  In  St  John  of  the  Cross  the  longing 
for  heaven  is  more  apparent  in  it,  and  this  is  in  conformity  with  his 
strong  leaning  towards  the  contemplative  life. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  SPANISH  SCHOOL  AFTER  ST  TERESA  AND  ST  JOHN 
OF  THE  CROSS  — THE  CARMELITES  —  THE  JESUITS- 
MARY  D'AGREDA 

THE  works  of  St  John  of  the  Cross  no  more 
escaped  criticism  than  did  those  of  St  Teresa.1 
They  were  first  published  in  1618,  twenty-eight 
years  after  their  writer's  death.  The  prejudice 
against  mysticism  had  not  ceased,  far  from  it. 
The  ascetic  school  continued  its  opposition  to  mystical  books, 
and  sometimes  with  violence.  Further,  the  persistence  of 
illuminism   in   Spain   seemed  to  justify  this  attitude. 

It  will  be  remembered  how  severely  the  Spanish  Inquisi- 
tion in  1559  had  proscribed  mystical  works  published  in 
Spanish.  Many  thought  such  strictness  opportune,  even  in 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  they  were 
very  displeased  because  St  John  of  the  Cross  had  written 
in  Spanish  not  only  simple  devotional  books  but  real  treatises 
of  mystical  theology.  Ought  theology  to  speak  any  other 
language  than  Latin?  In  fact,  the  new  departure  made  by 
St  John  of  the  Cross  seemed  all  the  more  daring  in  that  the 
matters  of  spirituality  which  he  explained  were  higher  and 
more  delicate  and,  therefore,  more  subject  to  erroneous  inter- 
pretations by  the  common  people. 

One  of  these  questions  raised  particularly  lively  controver- 
sies. St  John  of  the  Cross  was  one  of  the  first,  not  to  dis- 
cover— for  the  discovery  was  made  before  his  day — but  to 
bring  out  well  into  the  light  active  or  "  spiritual  "  contempla- 
tion, as  he  calls  it.2  This  mode  of  contemplation,  which  is 
intermediate  between  discursive  prayer  and  infused  con- 
templation, does  not  require  extraordinary  grace.  Every- 
one may  aspire  to  it,  and  those  who  take  pains  reach  it.  It 
is  totally  different  from  passive  or  "  infused  "  contemplation, 
which  depends  entirely  upon  divine  action.  John  of  the 
Cross  thereby  thought  to  reassure  the  partisans  of  pure 
asceticism.  If  there  be  a  kind  of  contemplation  open  to  all, 
which  does  not  belong  to  the  domain  of  mysticism  properly 

1  See  R.  P.  Wenceslas  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  O.C.D.,  Fisionomia 
de  un  Doctor,  especially  Vol.  II,  and  his  Introductions  to  the  Works  of 
St  John  of  the  Cross. 

2  Cf.  H.  Hoornaert,  CEuvres  sfirituelles  de  S  Jean  de  la  Croix,  Vol 
III,  pp.  xix  ff. 

206 


XTbe  Spanisb  Scbool  207 

so  called,  must  not  people  be  led  thereto?  And  can  it  not  be 
done  with  no  risk  of  illuminism?  St  John  of  the  Cross 
explains  carefully,  as  we  know,  the  signs  whereby  the 
moment  is  recognized  for  passing  from  meditation  to  such 
contemplation. 

This  theory  seemed  to  be  novel.  In  reality,  only  the 
explanations  of  John  of  the  Cross  were  new,  particularly  his 
explanation  of  the  psychological  phenomenon  of  aridity, 
occurring  at  the  time  of  transition  from  discursive  medita- 
tion to  active  contemplation.  But  this  novelty  is  a  happy 
discovery,    a  "  precious  contribution  "  to   spiritual  theology. 

John  of  the  Cross  has  been  blamed  for  the  rigour  of  his 
mysticism.  He  constantly  speaks  of  emptiness,  annihila- 
tion, and  of  the  death  of  the  senses  and  powers  of  the  soul. 
He  demands  that  the  soul  shall  be  stripped  of  every  percep- 
tion, image,  and  idea.  We  must  renounce  even  spiritual 
favours  granted  by  God.  Is  not  this  asking  for  more  than 
the  preparation  for  supernatural  states  requires?  Besides, 
how  can  any  mysticism,  if  it  be  based  on  the  radical  sup- 
pression of  the  use  of  our  natural  faculties,  be  reconciled 
with  the  needs  of  active  daily  life? 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  mysticism  of  St  John  of  the 
Cross  is  perhaps  not  much  to  the  taste  of  men  of  action. 
They  are  free  to  prefer  that  of  St  Teresa  or  of  St  Francis 
de  Sales ;  but  if  we  except  his  renunciation  of  spiritual 
favours — which  needs  to  be  rightly  understood — the  doctrine 
and  the  terminology  of  St  John  of  the  Cross  are  to  be  found 
in  the  great  theorists  of  mysticism  from  the  time  of  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite.  In  their  writings  we  meet  with  terms 
which,  at  first  sight,  seem  exaggerated,  and  are  not  to  be 
taken  in  an  absolute  sense.  And  besides,  who  can  say  how 
far  self-abnegation  should  be  carried  by  one  whom  God  him- 
self is  purifying  before  uniting  him  with   himself? 

Despite  the  good  grounds  for  such  explanations,  the  writ- 
ings of  St  John  of  the  Cross  were  denounced  to  the  Inquisi- 
tion. Learned  theologians,  like  Suarez,  had  to  undertake 
their  defence.1  However,  criticism  diminished  by  degrees 
in  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  famous  mystic's  reputa- 
tion for  sanctity.  And  since  his  canonization  the  Church 
has  put  this  passage  in  his  office  :  "  To  explain  the  mysterious 
operations  of  God  in  souls,  equalling  St  Teresa,  in  the  judge- 
ment of  the  Apostolic  See,  St  John  of  the  Cross  was  divinely 
taught,  and  has  written  books  of  mystical  theology  full  of 
heavenly  wisdom." 

1  P.  Wenceslas,  Vol.  II,  chap.  vi. 


2o8  Cbristiau  Spirituality 


I— THE  CARMELITE  SCHOOL  IN  THE 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  views  of  St  John  of  the  Cross  upon  active  contemplation 
were  accepted  in  Spain  by  the  religious  Orders  :  they  effected 
a  real  reconciliation  between  pure  asceticism  and  mysticism. 
There  is  a  kind  of  contemplation  open  to  all,  the  result  of 
our  efforts  with  the  help  of  grace.  Properly  mystical  con- 
templation, which  is  infused  and  the  fruit  of  a  special 
grace,  is  a  passive  state  which  does  not  depend  upon  our- 
selves.1 

The  Carmelite  School  kept  to  this  doctrine  and  propa- 
gated it. 

John  of  Jesus  Mary,2  the  contemporary  of  St  Teresa, 
afterwards  General  of  the  Carmelites,  recorded  it  in  his 
Disciplina  claustralis,  the  spiritual  directory  of  the  novices 
of  the  Order.  Therein  he  treats  at  length  of  discursive 
prayer,  and  sets  forth  a  method  resembling  that  of  Luis  of 
Grenada  and  St  Peter  of  Alcantara.  It  has  the  same  prin- 
ciples :  preparation  for  prayer,  reading,  meditation,  affections 
of  the  will — i.e.,  thanksgiving,  offering,  and  petition.3  As  to 
contemplation,  he  distinguishes  it  into  three  kinds  : 

"  The  first,"  he  says,  "  is  natural,  and  it  belongs  to  the 
spirit  clinging  to  God  as  the  creator  of  nature  and  to  the 
truths  contained  in  this  order  :  this  is  the  contemplation  of 
philosophers.    .   .   . 

"  The  second  is  supernatural,  and,  by  a  higher  light  than 
nature's,  it  discovers  some  mystery  of  grace,  and,  by  a 
simple  and  loving  look  issuing  from  previous  meditations, 
fastens  thereon  and  feeds  and  rests  thereon.  This  is  the 
contemplation  of  Christians  who  are  practised  in  prayer,  and 
it  is  that,  too,  of  certain  of  the  Church's  prophets.     To  this 

1  Contemplatio  fidelium  quae  fidem  praesupponit  dividitur  in  duas 
species,  scilicet  in  acquisitam  et  infusam.  .  .  .  Acquisitam  earn  nun- 
cupamus,  quam  industria  et  exercitatione  propria,  non  tamen  sine 
divina  operatione  et  gratia  acquirimus ;  infusam  vero,  quae  ex  sola 
gratia  sive  insfiratione  divina  promanat  et  Deus  in  nobis  sine  nobis 
operatur.  Antonii  a  Spiritu  Sancto  (fi667)  Directorium  mysticuni , 
tract.  Ill,  disput.  i,  sect.  6,  Parisiis,  1904,  p.  238.  Antony  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  reproduces  Philip  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Summa  theologiac 
mysticae,  pars  II,  tract.  I,  art.  ii,  Paris,  1874,  torn.  II,  p.  45. 

2  Born  in  1564  in  the  diocese  of  Osma  in  Spain  :  died  in  1615.  With 
John  of  St  Jerome  he  wrote  the  book,  Vita  et  mores,  spiritus,  zelus  et 
doctrina  servae  Dei  Theresiae  de  Jesu,  published  by  Fr.  Gratian  in 
1610.  Bossuet  (Mystici  in  tuto,  pars  I,  cap.  xv)  quotes  with  praise  a 
chapter  on  contemplation  from  the  Disciplina  claustralis  of  John  of 
Jesus  Mary. 

3  La  discipline  claustrale,  Part  IV,  chaps,  i-vii,  Paris,  1669,  pp. 
171-190. 


Qhe  Spanteb  Scbool  209 

kind  of  contemplation  may  be  referred  the  knowledge  of  the 
truths  of  the  natural  order,  which  has  been  acquired  by 
supernatural   enlightenment. 

"  The  third  is  divine,  coming  from  the  gift  of  wisdom  with 
the  help  of  a  supereminent  light,  which  regards  nothing  but 
God  and  the  divine  perfections.   .   .   .Ml 

Thomas  of  Jesus,  whose  doctrinal  authority  is  undisputed 
among  the  Carmelites,  founds  his  spiritual  teaching  on  the 
distinction  between  infused  and  acquired  contemplation.2 
The  latter,  he  declares,  is  equally  suited  to  beginners  and  to 
those  who  are  most  advanced.  He  gives  the  requisite  direc- 
tions for  all  to  practise  it.  A  like  doctrine  is  found  in  the 
works  of  the  French  Carmelite,  the  celebrated  Philip  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,3  and  in  those  of  the  Portuguese  Antony  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.4 

The  Carmelites  have  kept  their  tradition  intact.  It  is 
always  taught  to  their  novices;5  and  recently,  on  the  third 
centenary  of  the  canonization  of  St  Teresa,  the  Discalced 
Carmelites  held  a  Congress  at  Madrid,  where  the  existence 
of  acquired  or  active  contemplation  was  affirmed,  and  also 
its   distinction    from    infused   or  passive   contemplation.     By 

1  La  discipline  claustrale,  Part  V,  chap,  i,  pp.  207-208. 

1  The  Venerable  Thomas  of  Jesus  was  born  in  Andalusia  about  1564. 
Provincial  of  Castile,  then  Definitor  General  of  the  Order,  he  died  in 
Rome  in  1627,  reputed  for  sanctity.  His  mind  as  to  infused  contempla- 
tion is  seen  in  his  De  contemflatione  divina  libri  sex,  published  in 
1620.  He  treats  of  acquired  contemplation  in  the  Via  brevis  et  plana 
orationis  mentalis,  published  in  1610,  and  in  an  unpublished  work 
issued  in  1922  at  Milan  by  Fr.  Eugene  of  St  Joseph,  entitled  De  con- 
temflatione acauisita,  in  which  are  treated  the  nature,  effects,  and 
properties  of  acquired  contemplation.  My  knowledge  of  this  work 
was  obtained  from  a  French  adaptation,  by  Fr.  Berthold  Ignace  de 
Ste  Anne,  entitled,  La  meilleure  -part  ou  la  vie  contemplative.  The 
Works  of  Thomas  of  Jesus  were  issued  at  Cologne  in  1685. 

3  Born  in  1603  in  the  diocese  of  Vaison  (Vaucluse),  he  lived  at  Lyons. 
Then  he  was  a  missionary  in  the  Levant.  Returning  to  Lyons,  he  was 
raised  to  all  the  offices  of  his  Order  in  succession,  and  finally  elected 
as  General  of  the  Carmelites  at  Rome  in  1665.  He  died  at  Naples  in 
1671.  He  wrote  a  great  many  books  :  Summa  philoso-phiae,  Lyons, 
1648;  Summa  Theologiae,  Lyons,  1653;  Summa  Theologiae  mysticae, 
Lyons,  1656;  a  Chronologia  from  the  creation  of  the  world  and  a 
curious  Itinerarium  orientale,   1649,  etc. 

4  Antony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  born  at  Monte  Morovelho  in 
Portugal.  He  was  a  professor  at  Lisbon  and  a  famous  preacher.  He 
became  Bishop  of  Angola  in  Africa,  and  died  about  1677.  His  Dire- 
ctorium  mysticum  appeared  at  Lyons  in  1677,  then  at  Venice  in  1697, 
and  often  afterwards.  Republished  at  Paris  in  1904.  The  plan  of  the 
work  is  that  of  the  three  ways.  The  author  treats  of  the  active  and 
the  passive  purifications,  of  active  and  of  passive  enlightenment,  of 
active  and  of  passive  or  infused  contemplation.  He  merely  abridges 
the  Summa  of  Philip  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

5  Cj.  Theodore  of  St  Joseph,  O.C.D.,  Essai  sur  foraison  selon  Vicole 
carmilitaine,  Bruges,  1923.  He  explains  the  Disciflina  claustralis  of 
John  of  Jesus  Mary. 


III. 


H 


210  Cbrfstfan  Spirituality 

proclaiming-  this  doctrine  the  Congress  intends  to  continue 
faithful  to  the  real  mind  of  the  foundress  of  the  Carmelite 
Reform.1 


II— THE  SPANISH  JESUITS  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF 
THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY :  ALPHONSO 
RODRIGUEZ,  LUIS  DE  LA  PUENTE,  ST  ALPHON- 
SUS  RODRIGUEZ,  ALVAREZ  DE  PAZ 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  may  still 
remark  among  the  Spanish  Jesuits  some  distrust  of 
mysticism,  and  this  is  accounted  for  by  the  occurrences  of 
the  end  of  the  century  before.2 

We  recall  the  unfortunate  infatuation  of  the  followers  of 
Balthazar  Alvarez  for  mystical  prayer,  which  necessitated 
the  intervention  of  their  superiors  and  resulted  in  penalties. 

It  was  just  at  this  period,  in  1577,  that  Alphonso 
Rodriguez3  was  novice-master  at  Montilla,  in  Andalusia,  and 
had  to  make  the  regular  spiritual  exhortations  weekly  in 
all  the  society's  houses.  According  to  the  official  directions, 
he  had  to  put  his  brethren  on  their  guard  against  methods 
of  prayer  differing  from  those  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises. 
His  treatise  on  the  Practice  of  Christian  Perfection  is  an 
epitome    of    his    exhortations.      Now,    what    he    teaches    on 

1  Resolutions  of  the  Madrid  Congress,  First  Section,  The  Spiritual 
Life,  Themes  IV -VI,  in  the  Mensajero  de  S  Teresa,  Madrid,  March 
15,  1923.  See  Etudes  Carmelitaines,  January-July,  1924,  pp.  89-91. 
Among  Spanish  Carmelite  writers  of  this  period,  note  :  another 
Thomas  of  Jesus,  author  of  a  Summary  of  the  Degrees  of  Prayer  in 
Spanish,  1609;  the  French  translation  (Paris,  1612)  also  contains  a 
Traite  de  Voraison  metitale ;  Michel  de  la  Fuente,  Libro  de  las  tres 
vidas  del  hombre,  corf  oral,  racional  y  es-piritual,  Toledo,  1623  ;  Cecilia 
del  Nacimento  (1570-1646),  Tratado  de  la  transformacidn  del  alma  en 
Dios  (1632-1633),  and  Tratado  de  la  union  del  alma  con  Dios  (in  the 
Obras  of  St  John  of  the  Cross,  Toledo,  1914,  Vol.  Ill)  ;  Maria  de 
Aquila  y  Canali,  Vie  interieure  et  sfirituelle,  Madrid,  1634;  Joseph  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  (T1739),  Cursus  theologiae  mystico-scolasticae ,  Seville, 
1720-1739;  Antony  of  the  Annunciation,  professor  at  the  College  of 
Alcala  de  Henares,  Disce-ptatio  mystica  de  oratione  et  contemflatione, 
which  is  the  Carmelite  Manual  of  mysticism  since  1686.  On  the 
Carmelite  tradition,  see  Etudes  Carmelitaines,  January-July,  1922, 
pp.  13-17. 

2  But  see  Antony  Martinez  (Garcia  del  Valle,  S.J.),  Camino  a  la 
unidn  y  comunidn  con  Dios,  recogitado  de  diversos  autores  de  la 
cotnfahia  de  Jesus,  Alcala,  1630. 

3  Alphonso  Rodriguez  was  born  in  1526  at  Valladolid.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  he  joined  the  Jesuits,  then  still  governed  by  St  Ignatius.  On 
leaving  the  noviciate,  he  taught  moral  theology,  and  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  later  he  became  novice-master  of  Montilla  in  Andalusia,  and  had 
to  deliver  weekly  exhortations  in  the  Jesuit  houses.  In  1593  he  was 
sent  to  Cordova  for  the  same  purpose.  In  1606  he  was  novice-master 
at  Seville.  There  he  wrote  his  famous  treatise,  The  Practice  of 
Christian  Perfection,  issued  in  Spanish  at  Seville  in  1614. 


Xlbe  Spanisb  Scbool  211 

mystical  kinds  of  prayer  is  right,  but  its  tone  betrays  some 
anxiety  and  even  fears  : 

"There  are  two  kinds  of  mental  prayer,"  he  says,  "one 
simple,  common,  and  easy ;  the  other  very  exceptional  and 
very  sublime,  and  it  is  received  rather  than  made.   .   .   ." 

"  Perfect  [mystical]  prayer  is  a  special  grace  from  God, 
and  he  grants  it  to  whom  he  will ;  sometimes  as  a  reward  for 
services  rendered  to  him  and  for  mortifications  endured  for 
the  love  of  him,  and  sometimes  gratuitously,  without  regard 
to  the  past,  as  the  pure  outcome  of  his  liberality ;  for,  as 
he  himself  savs,  he  is  free  to  do  good  to  whom  he  will 
(Matt,  xx,  15).  .  .  . 

'  This  divine  call  to  the  soul  to  enter  into  the  Lord's  sanc- 
tuary, converse  with  her  heavenly  Spouse,  and  to  be  inebriated 
with  his  love,  is  an  altogether  special  grace,  a  signal  privi- 
lege granted  only  by  God  to  whom  he  will.  It  is  not  the 
Bride  who  herself  enters  into  the  retreat  of  her  Spouse,  but 
it  is  he  who  takes  her  by  the  hand  and  leads  her  into  it."1 

To  desire  such  a  favour  and  to  claim  to  attain  to  it  when 
not  called  thereto  is  a  "  presumptuous  "  attempt,  "  making 
him  who  dares  it  run  the  risk  of  losing,  as  a  penalty  for  his 
pride,  the  grace  of  ordinary  prayer  and  of  finding  himself 
stripped  of  everything  because  he  has  set  his  desires  too 
high.2 

"If  we  had  perfect  humility  we  should  be  satisfied  with 
praying  like  most  of  our  brethren  ;  we  should  even  regard 
it  as  a  special  grace  of  God  that  he  willed  to  lead  us  by  the 
common  way  rather  than  by  some  other  higher  and  harder 
road  in  which  we  might  perhaps  go  astray  and  get  lost."3 

Moreover,  mystical  prayer  "  is  a  gift  so  much  above  man's 
understanding  that  we  can  neither  teach  it  nor  comprehend 
it."  Only  those  who  are  privileged  to  enjoy  it  can  speak 
of  it ;  "  nor  can  even  those  thoroughly  know  the  nature  of 
it,  nor  tell  what  it  is,  nor  how  it  is  made."4 

1  Part  I,  Treatise  V,  On  Prayer,  chap,  iv,  Crouzet's  translation,  Paris, 
1895,  Vol.  I,  pp.  346  ff.     Cf.  Treatise  VIII,  chap,  xxx,  Vol.  II,  pp.  204  ff. 

2  ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  350. 

8  ibid.,  chap,  xx,  p.  430.  Father  Everard  Mercurian,  General  of  the 
Jesuits,  writes  thus  to  his  Spanish  subjects  :  "  There  are  many  who 
hear  of  an  exercise  of  divine  love  which  is  still  higher  than  ordinary 
prayer  and  of  certain  anagogic  acts  and  some  strange  silence  of  the 
faculties  of  the  soul,  and  wish,  rather  from  want  of  discernment  than 
in  obedience  to  a  real  desire  for  spiritual  progress,  to  rise  prematurely 
to  the  practice  of  the  life  of  union  as  to  the  highest  peak  of  perfection, 
from  the  top  of  which  the  human  passions  are  more  easily  subdued ; 
but  since  they  have  not  gained  enough  strength,  they  lose  much  time  in 
vain  endeavours  and  make  so  little  progress  that  after  many  years 
they  are  as  much  carried  away  by  their  vices  and  as  selfish  and 
opiniated  in  their  minds  and  wills,  as  much  the  slaves  of  their  material 
well-being,  as  if  they  had  never  had  any  intercourse  with  God.  .  .  ." 
Quoted  by  Rodriguez,  ibid.,  chap,  vi,  p.  359. 

4  ibid.,  chap,  iv,  pp.  347,  349. 


212  Christian  Spirituality 

"  Further,"  continues  Rodriguez,  "  quite  rightly  the  read- 
ing of  certain  authors  has  been  condemned,  who  have  fancied 
that,  by  means  of  certain  rules,  a  man  could  be  made  a 
contemplative,  and  have  tried  to  teach  what  no  one  could 
learn  and  to  reduce  to  a  human  science  what  is  altogether 
above  art  and  nature.  In  a  book  written  by  Gerson  against 
Ruysbroeck,  he  rebukes  the  latter  severely  for  such  a  rash 
pretension  as  this.  .  .  .  Moreover,  what  mean  these 
analogies,  these  transformations  of  the  soul,  this  silence  of 
all  the  faculties,  this  annihilation,  this  immediate  union,  and 
all  the  subtle  and  obscure  terminology  of  Tauler?  Can  one 
make  anything  out  of  all  that?  As  for  myself,  I  frankly 
acknowledge  my  ignorance  about  it."1 

If  Rodriguez  does  not  understand  the  obscure  theories  of 
the  German  mystics,  he  nevertheless  knows  "  perfect  prayer." 
He  describes  it  along  with  discursive  meditation  in  his 
treatise  on  prayer,  not  to  urge  his  readers  thereto  but  to 
give  them  a  notion  of  it.  What  he  recommends  with  warmth 
and  conviction  is  "ordinary  mental  prayer." 

He  does  not,  however,  make  the  whole  of  prayer  consist 
in  meditation  and  considerations.  These  are  but  means  to 
attain  to  acts  and  "  affective  motions  of  the  will." 

"  The  masters  of  the  spiritual  life,"  he  says,  "  counsel  the 
avoidance  of  too  lengthy  meditations,  especially  when  they 
are  taken  up  with  subtle  and  fine-spun  reflections,  because 
they  paralyze  the  affective  motions  of  the  will  which  ought 
nevertheless  to  be  the  goal  and  end  of  prayer.2  .  .  .  This 
sort  of  affective  outgush  of  the  will  is  the  highest  degree  of 
prayer.  Then  do  we  no  longer  try  to  stir  ourselves  up  to 
the  love  of  God  with  the  stimulus  of  meditation  ;  the  heart 
is  filled  with  the  love  which  it  so  ardently  yearned  for,  and 
it  delights  and  rests  therein  as  being  at  the  consummation 
of  its  desires  and  endeavours."3 

The  soul  has  thus  attained  to  "active"  contemplation, 
which  was  then  well  known  in  Spain,  and  is  the  result  of 
the  efforts  of  spiritual  meditation  : 

"  In  prayer,"  adds  Rodriguez,  "  meditation  and  other 
functions  of  the  mind  are  all  directed  towards  contemplation  ; 
they  must  be  used  as  steps  to  ascend  to  this  summit  of 
prayer."4 

This  attitude  of  Rodriguez  towards  mysticism  explains  the 
character  of  his  work.  It  is  a  treatise  of  pure  asceticism, 
and,  from  that  point  of  view,  remarkable.6     Not  only  is  his 

1  Chap,  iv,  p.  349.  See  H.  Bremond,  Histoire  littiraire  dn  sentiment 
religieux,  Vol.  V,  Appendix,  for  interesting  evidences  of  Rodriguez's 
mind  on  mysticism. 

2  Chap.  xi;i,  p.  385.  '  Chap,  xii,  p.  382. 
4  Chap,  xii,  p.  382.     Cf.  Part  II,  Treatise  VII,  chap.  iii. 

*  The  book  is  divided  into  three  parts,  and  each  part  into  treatises. 
The  First  Part  comprises  these  treatises  :  Of  the  Esteem  of  Perfection 


TTbe  Spanteb  Scbool  213 

teaching-  very  sound  and  very  definite,  but  it  is  set  forth 
with  warmth  and  unction.  He  charms  his  reader  with  his 
familiar  and  amiable  simplicity.  A  large  number  of  quota- 
tions, taken  from  the  Fathers — no  matter  whether  the  texts 
be  genuine  or  not — or  from  the  lives  of  the  saints,  support 
his  principles  of  spirituality  ;  and  we  feel  that  the  very  subtle 
psychological  remarks  interspersed  with  his  doctrinal  teach- 
ing show  the  writer's  great  experience  in  the  direction  of 
souls. 

Rodriguez  wrote  his  book  especially  for  "  the  members  of 
the  Society."  But,  as  he  tells  us  in  his  Preface,  he  has  used 
a  method  which  makes  it  "  a  good  book  .  .  .  for  all  religious 
in  general,"  and  also  "  for  all  who  aspire  to  the  perfection 
of  the  Christian  life."  The  Practice  of  Christian  Perfection 
has  really  been  a  classical  handbook  of  spirituality  in 
universal  use  for  many  centuries  :  few  works  have  had  such 
a  deep  and  wide  influence. 


Luis  de  la  Puente,1  the  contemporary  and  compatriot  of 
Alphonso  Rodriguez,  does  not  partake  of  his  distrust  of 
mysticism.     The  historian  of  Balthazar  and  of  Dona  Marina 

— Of  the  Perfection  of  Ordinary  Actions — Of  Uprightness  and  Purity 
of  Intention  —  Of  Union  and  Fraternal  Charity  —  Of  Prayer  —  Of 
Examination  of  Conscience — Of  the  Presence  of  God — Of  Conformity 
with  the  Will  of  God. 

The  Second  Part  contains  the  treatises  :  Of  Mortification — Of  Modesty 
and  Silence — Of  Temptations — Of  Inordinate  Love  of  One's  Parents — 
Of  Humility — Of  Sadness  and  Joy — Of  Meditation — Of  the  Passion — 
Of  Holy  Communion  and  of  Mass. 

The  Third  Part  deals  with  the  religious  life  :  Of  the  Aim  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus — Of  Vows  and  Religious  Profession — Of  the  Vow  of 
Poverty — Of  the  Vow  of  Chastity — Of  the  Vow  of  Obedience — Of  the 
Observance  of  Rules — Of  Confidence  in  One's  Superiors  and  Spiritual 
Fathers — Of  Fraternal  Correction. 

1  Born  at  Valladolid  in  1554,  he  joined  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1575. 
He  was  too  weak  in  health  to  take  up  active  employments.  He  gave 
himself  up  to  direction  and  to  writing  spiritual  books.  His  works 
are  :  Medilaciones  de  los  mysterios  de  la  nueslra  santa  fe,  Valladolid, 
1605.  In  these  Meditations  the  art  of  meditating  is  taught  according 
to  the  method  of  St  Ignatius.  Guida  espiritual  de  la  oration,  medita- 
tion y  contemplation,  Valladolid,  1609.  This  Spiritual  Guide  teaches 
one  how  to  meditate  and  to  attain  to  contemplation.  De  la  Perfection 
cristiana:  a  Treatise  of  Christian  Perfection  in  every  State,  Valladolid, 
1612-1616;  Vida  del  Balthazar  Alvarez,  Madrid,  1612  ;  Expositio  moralis 
et  mystica  in  Canticum  canticorum,  Monocerote,  1622,  Paris,  1646 ; 
Directorio  espiritual,  Madrid,  1625  ;  Vida  maravillosa  de  la  venerabile 
virgen  Marina  de  Escobar.  This  Life  of  Dona  Maria  de  Escobar  was 
finished  by  Fr.  Cachupin  and  published  at  Madrid,  1665.  Marina 
de  Escobar  (+1633)  founded  the  Order  of  Recollection  of  St  Bridget. 
She  was  born  at  Valladolid  in  1554.  She  often  had  visions  of  St 
Gertrude,  St  Bridget,  and  St  Matilda.  She  also  had  revelations  as  to 
heavenly  things.  Luis  de  la  Puente  was  her  confessor  for  thirty  years. 
Marina   de   Escobar   was    well   versed   in    mysticism.      There   are   two 


214  Cbrlstlan  Spirituality 

de  Escobar,  two  true  mystics,  he  made  a  close  study  of 
supernatural  states  and  described  them.  Moreover,  a  letter 
of  Claud  Acquaviva,  General  of  the  Jesuits  after  Everard 
Mercurian,  had  expressed  the  official  mind  of  the  Society 
as  to  mysticism,  and  this  mind  was  favourable. 

Luis  de  la  Puente  sums  up  his  spiritual  teaching-  in  his  Life 
of  Balthazar  Alvarez,  a  work  of  his  closing-  years,  which 
benefits  by  the  experience  of  a  lifetime.1  Its  central  part  is 
concerned  with  prayer.  Moreover,  it  was  just  the  way  in 
which  this  exercise  was  understood  and  practised  that  was 
then  being  discussed  in  Spain. 

Like  Rodriguez,  he  declares  that  the  way  of  mystical 
prayer  can  only  be  embarked  upon  through  a  special  call  of 
God.     He  expresses  himself  in  the  same  words  : 

"  Intimate  and  familiar  converse  with  God  our  Lord,"  he 
says,  "  and  the  gift  of  calm  and  perfect  contemplation  .  .  . 
are  so  sublime  a  good  that  Father  Balthazar,  as  he  himself 
says  in  his  account  of  it,  could  only  be  raised  thereto  by  a 
special  call  of  God.  He  calls  thereto  whom  he  will ;  it  has 
no  place  nor  year  nor  fixed  time,  for  all  depends  upon  his 
most  holy  will  who  findeth  "  his  delight  in  conversing  with 
the  children  of  men."  But  with  some  he  converses  more 
familiarly  than  with  others;  and  this  is  through  a  special 
and  gracious  privilege  which  we  call  "vocation."  It  is  an 
inspiration,  an  impulse,  or  a  great  affection  impressed  on 
the  soul,  which  urges  it  on  to  this  high  way  of  prayer,  and 
at  the  same  time  communicates  to  it  the  aptitudes  and  means 
to  follow  that  mode.  For  all  are  not  called  thereto,  all  are 
not  adapted  to  it,  and  they  should  not  rashly  set  themselves 
to  aspire  to  it."2 

If  it  is  rash  to  aspire  to  extraordinary  states  of  prayer 
when  not  called  thereto,  it  would  also  be  most  regrettable 
not  to  answer  the  divine  call  when  there  is  one  : 

"  For  two  things  may  do  great  harm  :  to  dare  to  aspire, 
without  being  called  thereto,  to  ascend  higher  than  one  can  ; 
to  resist  the  divine  call  when  we  have  ascertained  that  it  is 
God's  will  to  lead  anyone  by  that  way.  We  must  appeal  to 
the  judgement  of  some  prudent  and  experienced  spiritual 
Master,  whose  special  mission  it  is  to  examine  the  different 

posthumous  works  by  Luis  de  la  Puente  :  How  to  help  towards  a  Good- 
Death,  1670,  and  the  Memorial,  1671.  His  Life  was  written  by  Fr. 
Cachupin  and  published  at  Salamanca  in  1652. 

1  Luis  de  la  Puente  is  above  all  an  ascetic  writer ;  but  he  deals  with 
mysticism  in  the  Vida  del  Balthazar  Alvarez,  in  the  Exfositio  in 
Cantica  canticortim,  and  in  the  Guida  esfiritual,  Treatise  III.  Com- 
pare him  with  Diego  Monteiro,  S.J.,  in  the  Arte  de  orar,  Coimbra,  1630. 

3  Vie  du  P.  Balthazar  Alvarez,  chap,  xv,  Couderc's  translation, 
p.  139.  Cf.  chap,  ii,  p.  12  :  "  There  are  two  modes  of  mental  prayer  :  one 
ordinary  and  practised  in  general  by  the  just,  the  other  extraordinary, 
the  lot  of  the  few."     See,  too,  chap.  xiii. 


TTbe  Spanlsb  Scbool  215 

ways  in  which  God  guides  his  servants'  steps  so  as  not  to 
lead  them  astray  therefrom,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  direct 
and  to  encourage  them  therein,  so  that  they  may  walk  in 
them  with  prudence  and  with  profit."1 

This  vocation  is  manifested  sooner  or  later,  according-  to 
God's  good-will  : 

"  Sometimes  .  .  .  our  Lord,  by  a  privilege  and  special 
gift,  raises  up  some  of  them,  even  from  infancy  or  from  the 
first  days  of  their  conversion,  to  such  a  sublime  state  of 
prayer  and  sometimes  to  extraordinary  favours ;  yet,  in 
general,  he  calls  thereto  only  those  who  have  devoted  them- 
selves to  ordinary  prayer  in  meditation  and  reflection  on  the 
divine  mysteries.  And  to  such  meditation  everyone  is  called 
and  more  or  less  interiorly  drawn  according  to  his  capacity."2 

We  cannot  "  claim  to  tie  God  down  as  to  the  time  of  his 
visits  and  mercies."  Balthazar  Alvarez  was  kept  for  sixteen 
years  to  ordinary  prayer  : 

"  Also,"  continues  Luis  de  la  Puente,  "  look  with  suspicion 
upon  the  claim  to  lay  down  as  a  general  law  that,  if  we 
follow  such  and  such  a  method  for  so  many  years  and  so 
many  months,  we  shall  obtain  this  or  that  divine  favour,  or 
else  such  and  such  a  degree  of  virtue."3 

It  is  according  to  these  principles  that  Luis  de  la  Puente 
wrote  his  books,  especially  those  which  deal  with  prayer. 

First  of  all  he  teaches  how  the  prayer  of  meditation  is  to 
be  made  according  to  the  method  of  St  Ignatius,  which  he 
uses  invariably. 

"The  book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  .  .  ."  he  says, 
"  contains  all  that  is  needed  for  perfect  mental  prayer,  to 
which  all  can  aspire  if  they  co-operate  diligently  and  keenly 
with  the  motion  inspired  by  God  and  his  grace,  which  ever 
prevents  and  stimulates  us  to  act  along  with  it."4 

Whoever  uses  Luis  de  la  Puente's  Meditations  learns 
theoretically  as  well  as  practically  "  the  art  of  meditation 
and  prayer."  The  great  Christian  truths  and  the  events  of 
our  Saviour's  life  are  the  successive  subjects  of  his  devout 
reflections.  Well-ordered  themes  of  prayer,  full  of  doctrine, 
unction,  and  piety  are  set  before  him. 

While  keeping  his  readers  in  the  ways  of  asceticism,  Luis 
de  la  Puente  never  forgets  that  perhaps  many  of  them  may  be 

1  Vie,  chap,  xlii,  p.  422.  Luis  de  la  Puente  adds  :  "  Everyone  should 
be  helped  and  encouraged  in  his  own  way,  for  directors  are  only  God's 
co-operators  and  coadjutors  in  the  conduct  of  souls.  God  himself  is 
the  guide  and  master  in  chief,  and  the  others  have  but  to  follow  him, 
as  has  been  said.  And,  unless  our  Lord  intervene  by  some  special 
grace,  those  general  rules  are  to  be  observed  which  he  left  to  his 
Church." 

2  ibid.,  chap,  xv,  pp.  139-140. 

3  ibid.,  chap,  xlii,  p.  421. 
*  ibid.,  p.  423. 


216  Christian  Spirituality 

called   to  mount   higher.     Further,    he   himself   explains   his 
method  : 

"  Let  us  remember  the  preparations  to  be  made,"  he  says, 
"  the  subjects  and  the  mysteries  we  have  to  meditate  on,  the 
sentiments  we  must  conceive,  the  conversations  and  col- 
loquies we  have  to  hold  with  God,  the  manner  in  which  all 
this  is  to  be  applied  to  the  faculties  of  the  soul ;  the  fruits 
and  gains  to  which  we  should  aspire;  the  reflections  and 
examens  to  be  made  with  regard  to  all  these  operations,  in 
order  to  purify  and  improve  such  fruits.  Afterwards  we 
learn  how  to  attain  to  contemplation  and  to  the  perfect  love 
of  God,  to  enjoy  peacefully  and  interiorly  all  that  we  have 
perceived  in  our  meditations.  All  this  I  have  explained  at 
length  and  in  detail  in  the  two  books  of  Meditations  and  in 
The  Spiritual  Guide.'"1 

With  regard  to  the  mystical  union,  Luis  de  la  Puente  tries 
less  to  determine  its  degrees  than  to  explain  the  different 
names  then  given  it.  St  Teresa's  terminology  had  not  then 
become  classical.  The  divergencies  of  nomenclature  among 
the  old  writers  on  mysticism  engendered  much  confusion. 

"  This  mode  of  prayer,"  he  says,  "  is  called  very  particu- 
larly prayer  of  the  presence  of  God,  because  through  him, 
the  intellect  is  enlightened  with  divine  light,  and,  for  no 
other  reasons,  considers  God  as  so  present  near  it  and  in  it 
that  it  seems  to  feel2  with  whom  it  is  speaking  and  in  whose 
presence  it  stands.  It  is  like  that  which  St  Paul  says  of 
Moses,  that  he  dealt  with  the  invisible  God  as  if  he  saw 
God.  Hence,  and  as  it  were  naturally,  come  respect,  admira- 
tion, inclination  of  the  will — that  is  to  say,  pleasure  and 
the  joy  of  being  in  his  presence.   .   .   . 

"  Hence  it  is  that  this  mode  of  prayer  is  also  called  prayer 
of  repose,  or  of  interior  recollection.  It  puts  an  end,  indeed, 
to  the  great  number  and  variety  and  tumult  of  our  imaginings 
and  reasonings.  The  higher  powers  of  the  soul,  the 
memory,  the  understanding,  and  the  will  are  gathered  up 
and  fixed  in  God  and  in  the  contemplation  of  his  mysteries ; 
their  acts  are  wrought  in  a  perfect  peace  and  repose.  This 
is  what  is  most  exactly  called  contemplation.  .  .  .  Con- 
templation ...  by  a  simple  look  regards  the  sovereign 
truth,  admires  its  greatness,  and  delights  in  it. 

"  It  is  also  called  the  prayer  of  silence.  Therein,  indeed, 
the  soul  is  silent,  listens  with  close  attention  to  what  her 
Master  says  to  her  heart,  to  what  he  teaches  her,  and  dis- 
closes to  her  of  himself  and  his  mysteries.  But  we  must  not 
think,    as    do   some    who    are    ignorant,    that   if    the    soul    is 

1  Vie,  chap,  xlii,  p.  423. 

2  Alvarez  de  Paz  (torn.  Ill,  lib.  V,  pars  III,  cap.  iv)  says,  too,  that 
in  the  prayer  of  quiet  and  of  union  God  makes  his  presence  felt  by  the 
soul. 


Ube  Spanteb  Scbool  217 

silent  and  stops  to  wait  in  silence,  she  ceases  altogether 
from  acts  of  her  inferior  powers ;  for  that  is  impossible, 
except  in  sleep,  and  it  would  be  very  difficult  and  even  dan- 
gerous, because  it  would  rather  result  in  idleness  and  loss 
of  time  and  run  the  risk  of  having  the  imagination  encroached 
upon  by  a  host  of  chimeras,  or  the  mind  disturbed  by  the 
devil  through  bad  or  improper  thoughts.   .   .   . 

"  Sometimes  there  are  imaginative  representations  im- 
pressed upon  the  soul  by  our  Lord  ;  at  others  there  is  a  purely 
intellectual  and  most  high  enlightenment.  .  .  .  Then  is  the 
divine  Being  known  in  a  manner  so  lofty  as  to  be  united 
with  it  so  intimately  and  divinely  that  God  alone  can  raise 
one  to  such  a  height  by  his  special  grace  and  favour;  and 
despite  the  greatness  of  that  which  one  then  knows,  that 
which  one  does  not  know  appears  to  be  an  infinite  abyss."1 

In  this  kind  of  prayer  there  are  sometimes  extraordinary 
effects.  When  the  interior  illumination  and  the  ardent  affec- 
tions of  love  and  union  are  particularly  strong,  "  the  soul  is 
disconnected  with  the  outward  senses  and  the  corporal  move- 
ments are  interrupted,  and  there  is  suspension  or  ecstasy."2 
If  this  happens  suddenly  and  very  powerfully  there  is  rap- 
ture. When  the  divine  working  is  more  gentle  within,  it  is 
called  flight  of  the  spirit.  In  this  case,  fairly  frequently  the 
body  is  raised  from  the  ground,  and  follows  the  motion  of 
the  spirit  which  mounts  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly 
things.  For,  as  Luis  de  la  Puente  insists,  "  the  spirit  is 
neither  idle  nor  asleep.  It  ceases  not  to  see,  to  understand, 
to  hear  something,  to  admire,  to  rejoice,   and  to  love." 

The  works  of  Luis  de  la  Puente  did  away  with  the  pre- 
judices against  mysticism.  The  occurences  which  gave  such 
trouble  to  Balthazar  Alvarez  were,  moreover,  already  at  a 
distance  and  somewhat  forgotten.  A  contemporary  Brother 
Coadjutor  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  St  Alphonsus  Rodriguez, 
himself  raised  to  states  of  extraordinary  prayer,  was  putting 
a  final  touch  to  the  dissipation  of  old  prejudices. 

St  Alphonsus  Rodriguez3  wrote  his  spiritual  autobiography 
in  memoranda  for  which  he  was  asked  as  to  what  was  taking 

1  Vie  de  Balthazar  Alvarez,  chap,  xiv,  pp.  128-130.  Similar  explana- 
tions are  to  be  found  in  Part  III  of  the  Spiritual  Guide. 

2  ibid.,  p.  131-132. 

3  Born  at  Segovia  in  1531.  He  was  first  of  all  in  business.  He  lost 
his  wife  and  his  two  children  and  experienced  reverses  of  fortune.  He 
entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  as  Brother  Coadjutor  in  1571.  After  his 
noviciate  at  Valencia  he  was  sent  to  Majorca,  where  he  dwelt  until 
his  death  in  1617.  He  wrote  twenty-one  memoranda  on  his  mystical 
states  and  therewith  composed  his  Life,  which  was  translated  into 
French  by  Fr.  de  Benaze,  Paris,  1890.  The  opuscula  written  by 
Rodriguez  were  published  at  Barcelona  as  Obras  esfirituales  del 
Beato    Alonzo     Rodriguez.       Several    were     translated     into    French  : 


218  Cbristian  Spirituality 

place  in  his  soul.  He  went  through  the  different  degrees 
of  the  states  of  prayer  which  were  known  to  Balthazar 
Alvarez.  He  seems  to  have  distinguished  them  according  to 
the  intensity  of  the  feeling  of  the  presence  of  God  in  his  soul  : 

"  The  soul,"  he  says,  "  knows  without  any  discourse 
(because  it  has  passed  beyond  this  degree  [of  discursive 
prayer])  how  God  is  within  it,  since  God  gives  it  the  grace 
of  communicating  himself  to  it  in  this  way.  This  feeling 
of  the  presence  of  God  is  not  obtained  by  way  of  the  imagina- 
tion ;  but  it  is  in  it  as  a  certainty  received  from  on  high ;  it 
is  a  spiritual  and  experimental  certainty  that  God  is  in  the 
soul  and  in  every  place.  This  presence  of  God  is  called  an 
intellectual  presence.  It  usually  lasts  a  long  time.  The 
more  we  advance  in  the  service  of  God  the  more  is  this 
presence  felt  and  continuous,  since  God  communicates  him- 
self daily  more  and  more  to  the  soul,  if  it  dispose  itself 
thereto  by  a  generous  mortification  of  itself."1 

In  his  frequent  ecstasies  this  feeling  of  the  presence  of 
God  became  a  sort  of  vision  of  God  : 

"  This  person,"  he  says,  speaking  of  himself,  "  put  him- 
self into  the  presence  of  God  by  saying  to  him  lovingly  in 
heart  and  word:  '  Lord,  make  me  know  thee.'  And  imme- 
diately he  was  raised  above  all  created  things.  .  .  .  His 
knowledge  of  God,  which  was  immediate  and  without 
reasoning,  and  consequently  his  love  of  God  and  his  intimate 
familiarity  with  him  reached  such  a  point  that  it  seemed  to 
him,  so  to  speak,  that  God  willed  to  discover  himself  to 
him  as  if  to  the  blessed."2 

Very  high  teaching  about  this  knowledge  of  God  and  of 
oneself  is  to  be  found  in  the  treatise  he  wrote  On  the  Union 
and  Transformation  of  the  Soul  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  more 
we  know  God,  the  more  we  love  him.  On  the  contrary,  we 
hate  ourselves  the  more  the  more  we  know  of  ourselves,  and 
the  more  do  we  keenly  desire  "  blessed  sufferings." 

The  love  of  sufferings  perpetually  inspires  the  spirituality 
of  Rodriguez  and  is  also  the  explanation  of  his  life.  To 
make  him  suffer  was  to  lay  him  under  an  obligation  : 

"  Let  us  hold  as  our  best  friend  and  benefactor,"  he  said, 
"  him  who  persecutes  us  most,  and  let  us  behave  ourselves 
towards  him  as  towards  a  benefactor,  thanking  God  for  not 
forgetting  us  and  for  regarding  us  with  tender  love,   since 

V  explication  des  demandes  du  Pater,  Desclee,  Lille,  1894;  De  VUnion 
et  de  la  transformation  de  Vdme  en  Jisus-Christ,  a  booklet  followed  by 
other  treatises  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  Angels,  the 
Celebration  of  Mass,  and  the  Jeux  de  Dieu  avec  Vdme,  Desclee,  Lille, 
1899.  These  are  to  be  found  in  Vol.  II  of  the  Obras  del  Beato  Alonzo 
Rodriguez. 

1  Vie,  de  Benaze's  translation,  no.  40. 

2  Vie,  n.  12.     St  Alphonsus  Rodriguez  experienced  the  trials  reserved 
for  mystics,  Vie,  no.  18. 


Ube  Spanisb  Scbool  219 

he  gives  us  the  grace  of  suffering-  with  patience  for  the  love 
of  himself  and  of  thus  winning  a  magnificent  and  glorious 


crown."  x 


Moreover,  it  is  God's  will  to  try  those  whom  he  loves. 
He  "plays,"  to  use  Rodriguez'  own  word,  "with  those  who 
are  devoted  to  him."  We  might  be  tempted  to  say,  did  it 
not  imply  a  shade  of  want  of  respect,  that  he  teases  them. 
Rodriguez  knows  how  to  tell  us  in  a  naive  and  charming 
way  of  God's  dealings  with  the  devout  soul  : 

"  God  bears  himself,"  he  says,  "  towards  such  a  soul  as  a 
tender  mother  towards  her  poor  little  child  whom  she  loves 
more  than  her  own  life.  Such  a  mother  holds  her  son  in 
her  arms  and  plays  with  him ;  she  gives  him  little  pats  on 
the  cheek,  and  the  child  makes  faces  and  begins  to  cry. 
His  mother  is  happy,  and  soon  kisses  him  tenderly  and 
gives  him  her  breast,  and  quiets  him  with  her  caresses. 
She  is  so  pleased  to  play  with  him  that  she  often  starts  the 
loving  game  over  again ;  the  child  begins  to  cry  out  and 
weep  anew,  which  makes  his  good  mother  laugh  with 
pleasure ;  and  all  this  behaviour  arises  from  the  mother's 
tender  love  for  the  fruit  of  her  womb."2 

God  indulges  in  a  similar  game  with  the  soul,  and  he 
goes  on  with  it  until  the  soul  has  given  itself  up  to  him 
without  reserve. 


There  is  no  prejudice  against  mysticism  to  be  found  in 
the  works  of  Alvarez  de  Paz.3  In  these  there  is  nothing 
but  peace  :  we  move  in  the  serene  region  of  theological 
principles. 

He  made  the  first  complete  synthesis  of  ascetical  and 
mystical  theology,  much  more  the  work  of  the  theologian 
than  of  the  psychologist.  Alvarez  de  Paz  is  not  inclined  to 
observe  with  patience  the  mystical  experiences  of  those 
around  him.  Rather  rarely  does  he  describe  his  own  or  any- 
thing he  had  remarked  in  those  whom  he  directed.  His  is 
largely    the    science   of   books.      He    knows    fairly    fully   the 

1  De  VUnion  et  de  la  transformation  de  Vdme  en  ]esus-Christ,  Lille, 
1899,  p.  no. 

2  ibid.,  pp.  212-213. 

8  He  was  born  at  Toledo  in  1560,  and  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus 
in  1578.  He  studied  at  Alcala.  He  was  sent  to  Peru,  where  he  was 
successively  Rector  of  the  Colleges  of  Quito,  Cuzco,  and  Lima.  He 
taught  philosophy  and  theology  in  the  latter  town.  He  died  at  Potosi 
in  1620.  The  first  volume  of  his  works,  De  vita  sfirituali  ejusque  fer- 
fectione,  is  divided  into  five  books,  Lyons,  1608  and  161 1  ;  Mayence, 
1614.  The  second,  De  exterminatione  mali  et  fromotione  boni,  contains 
five  treatises  also,  Lyons,  1613,  1623;  Mayence,  1614.  The  third,  De 
inquisitione  -pads  sive  studio  orationis,  Lyons,  1617,  1619,  1623 ; 
Mayence,  1619;  Cologne,  1620.  This,  too,  has  five  books.  CEuvres 
published  at  Paris,  Vives,  1875-1876. 


220  Cbristian  Spirituality 

ascetical  and  mystical  teaching-  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  medieval  doctors.  The  writings  of  contemporaries 
he  almost  ignores.  He  never  read  St  Teresa,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  nothing  of  the  teaching  of  the  early  schools  is 
overlooked  by  him.  He  knew  how  to  sum  up  the  spirituality 
that  preceded  later  days. 

He  wrote  in  Latin  a  treatise  of  ascetical  and  mystical 
theology.  It  is  not  surprising  to  find  therein  a  methodical 
mind  sometimes  rather  fastidiously  dividing  up  the  matter  of 
its  studies.  But  piety  and  unction  tempered  any  dryness 
there  might  be  in  philosophical  speculations.  For  Alvarez 
de  Paz  not  only  desires  to  impart  spiritual  teaching,  but  also 
to  make  men  love  and  practise  it.  It  is  related  that  when  he 
lectured  or  preached,  he  became  so  fired  in  speaking  of 
things  spiritual  that  he  used  to  faint  away.  He  was  as  much 
an  orator  as  he  was  a  theologian.  We  feel  this  in  his 
writings,  which  are  rather  prolix  and  tire  the  hurried  reader. 
If  we  indeed  wish  to  follow  and  listen  to  him,  we  are  soon 
gripped  by  his  eloquence,  and  feel  a  desire  to  become  holier. 

Alvarez  de  Paz  takes  his  disciple — who  is  a  religious — at 
the  beginning  of  the  spiritual  life  and  leads  him  on  to  perfect 
contemplation,  if  he  be  called  thereto. 

First  of  all,  he  exhorts  him  to  have  a  high  esteem  for  the 
religious  life.  He  next  explains  the  nature  of  the  spiritual 
life — which  is  sanctifying  grace — and  lays  down  its  degrees. 
It  may  be  cultivated  in  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  life  of 
action  as  well  as  in  those  whom  Providence  has  called  to  a 
contemplative  or  mixed  life.  If  the  spiritual  life  grows 
normally,  it  will  attain  to  perfection.  Alvarez  de  Paz  defines 
such  perfection — which  consists  in  the  union  of  the  soul  with 
God  by  ever-increasing  charity — and  he  shows  its  excellence 
and  proves  how  desirable  it  is.1 

When  perfection  is  known  and  desired,  we  must  tend 
towards  it  by  fleeing  from  evil  and  by  doing  what  is  right. 
This  is  the  subject  of  the  Second  Part  of  the  work  of  Alvarez 
de  Paz.2  The  teaching  of  spiritual  writers  on  the  avoidance 
of  sin,  the  destruction  of  vicious  habits,  resistance  of  tempta- 
tion, and  the  mortification  of  the  passions  are  explained  at 
length.  Then  we  find  a  treatise  on  the  Christian  and  religious 
virtues  and  on  the  way  to  acquire  them.  Humility,  poverty, 
chastity,   and  obedience  are  given  the  chief  place  amongst 

1  The  five  books  of  torn.  I  (Lyons  edition  of  1611)  are  thus  entitled  : 
De  incitamentis  religiosorum  ad  vitam  sfiritualem  consectandam ;  De 
vita  sfirituali  et  ejus  parti  bus  {de  quindccim  gradibus ;  de  vita  activa, 
contetnflativa  et  mixta);  De  natura  ferfectionis ;  De  mirabili  dignitate 
ferfectionis ;  De  excitando  desiderio  ferfectionis. 

2  The  titles  of  the  five  books  of  torn.  II  (Lyons,  1612)  :  De  fug  a 
feccatorum,  exlinctione  vitiorum  et  victoria  tentationum ;  De  mortifica- 
tione  virium  animae  et  abnegatione;  De  adeftione  virtutum;  De 
humilitate ;  De  faupertale,  castitate  et  obedientia. 


Uhc  Spanfsb  Scbool  221 

these.  This  part  of  the  work  of  Alvarez  has  been  translated 
and  published  by  itself.1 

The  great  means  of  perfecting-  the  spiritual  life  is  prayer, 
vocal  and  mental.  Alvarez  de  Paz,  according-  to  the  Spanish 
tradition  of  the  period,  enters  into  this  subject  in  detail.2  He 
has  set  down  certain  particularities  of  mental  prayer  which 
must  be  made  known.3 

After  his  own  method  he  sets  forth  the  patristic  teaching 
as  to  the  nature  and  necessity  of  mental  prayer,  as  to  the 
preparation  it  demands,  and  the  means  required  for  prac- 
tising it  well  and  to  good  advantage.  Preachers  delight  in 
his  pages,  which  overflow  with  pious  considerations.4 

Alvarez  de  Paz  distinguishes  between  four  kinds  of  mental 
prayer  :  discursive  prayer  or  meditation — which  he  calls  "  in- 
tellective " — then  affective  prayer,  next  the  beginning  of  con- 
templation, and  lastly,  perfect  contemplation.  This  point  of 
view  was  adopted  by  spiritual  writers  who  came  after  him. 
The  first  three  kinds  of  prayer  are  accessible  to  all ;  the  fourth, 
which  is  properly  mystical,  is  assigned  to  those  who  are 
called  thereto. 

So  far  no  one  had  clearly  defined  the  nature  of  affective 
prayer,  which  follows  immediately  after  meditation  and  pre- 
cedes "  the  beginning  of  contemplation  " — i.e.,  the  "  active  " 
contemplation  of  later  writers.  Alvarez  de  Paz  gave  this 
kind  of  prayer  the  name  which  suited  it — affective  prayer 
(oratio  adfectiva) — and  this  name  has  clung  to  it  : 

"  Since  mental  prayer,"  he  says,  "  consists  in  raising  the 
mind  and  will  to  God,  it  follows,  according  to  spiritual 
writers,  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  prayer :  intellective, 
which  takes  its  name  from  the  intelligence ;  and  affective, 
which  is  so  named  because  it  is  made  by  the  affections  of  the 
will."5 

1  Under  different  titles  :  Exercice  journalier  des  vertus,  Douai,  1625  ; 
and  Traiti  des  vertus,  Brouillon,  Paris,  1838. 

2  The  whole  contents  of  torn.  Ill,  in  five  books  (Lyons,  1617)  :  De 
oratione  turn  vocali  turn  ?nentali ;  De  his  quae  praecedunt,  comitantur 
et  sequuntur  orationem  mentalem;  De  materia  orationis  mentalis ;  De 
affectibus  orationis  mentalis;  De  perfecta  contemplatione  et  de  dis- 
cretione  spirituum. 

8  At  the  beginning  of  torn.  Ill  (lib.  I,  pars  I  and  II)  Alvarez  shows 
the  need  and  explains  the  effects  of  prayer  in  general.  He  then  shows 
how  to  pray  well  vocally  by  reciting  the  Hours.  The  rest  of  the  volume 
deals  with  mental  prayer. 

4  Lib.  I-II.  With  regard  to  discursive  meditation,  Alvarez  de  Paz 
(lib.  I,  pars  III)  recalls  all  the  medieval  theories  {cogitatio,  meditatio, 
contemplatio).  In  Book  III,  he  sets  forth  the  subjects  of  prayer  [materia 
orationis  mentalis).  The  subjects  for  beginners  are  sin  and  the  last 
things,  those  of  the  proficients  are  the  mysteries  of  our  Lord's  life,  and 
those  of  the  perfect  are  the  attributes  of  God.  The  subjects  of  the  pro- 
ficients may  be  had  in  French,  Meditation  sur  la  vie  de  Notre-Seigneur, 
Le  Muller,  Besancon,  1847,  1848;  Tournai,  i860. 

6  Lib.  I,  pars  III,  cap.  vi,  torn.  Ill,  col.  205,  Lyons,  1617. 


222  Cbrtstian  Spirituality 

But  he  explains  that  intellective  prayer  is  not  made  up 
solely  of  speculative  considerations  :  it  would  then  be  simply 
a  study.  If  we  reflect,  it  is  to  attain  to  prayer  and  to  doing 
what  is  good.  In  the  same  way,  affective  prayer  does  not 
entirely  exclude  reflections.  Both  kinds  of  prayer  are  char- 
acterized by  what  predominates  in  them. 

Alvarez  de  Paz  sets  out  at  length  the  theory  of  the  affective 
states  and  shows  how  to  use  them  in  the  pursuit  of  the  good. 
Affection  is  the  movement  of  the  soul  turning  towards  what 
pleases  it  or  away  from  what  displeases  it.  It  starts  from  the 
will  when  originating  from  an  idea,  and  from  the  sensibility 
when  resulting  from  a  sensation.     Its  end  is  good  or  evil.1 

The  aim  of  prayer  is  to  give  rise  to  strong  affective  impulses 
which  make  us  hate  vice  and  love  virtue.  The  role  of  the 
intellect  is  to  stimulate  them  by  means  of  the  idea.  In  affec- 
tive prayer,  ideas  are  few,  but  pious  desires  and  emotions 
fill  the  soul.  The  will  and  the  feelings  are  thus  strongly  borne 
towards  God  and  goodness.  Energetic  resolutions  then  carry 
out  what  is  felt.2  Affective  prayer  also  obtains  divine  help 
more  effectively,  for  it  is  nothing  but  pure  prayer. 

"  Even  if  you  were  to  make  no  petition,"  says  Alvarez, 
"  if  you  are  in  the  presence  of  God  and  desire  the  good, 
groaning  because  you  have  gone  away  from  it,  you  will  be 
answered  just  as  if  you  had  made  a  petition.  And  even  if 
you  have  expressed  no  desire,  yet  if  your  heart  is  ready  to 
act  and  is  prepared  to  do  the  right,  putting  its  trust  not  in 
itself  but  in  God,  such  readiness  will  be  counted  as  a  prayer, 
and  the  grace  needed  for  action  will  be  granted  you."3 

Alvarez  de  Paz  has  a  preference  for  affective  devotion,  and 
herein  follows  the  tradition  of  St  Teresa  and  the  Spanish 
School. 

Whoever  has  followed  out  the  ways  of  discursive  medita- 
tion and  affective  prayer  with  devout  fervour  will  merit  being 
raised  to  contemplation.4  But  here  it  is  important  to  observe 
that  there  is  a  degree  of  contemplation,  "  the  beginning  of 
contemplation  (inchoata  contemplatio),  which  we  must  en- 
deavour to  attain,  and  another,  "  perfect  contemplation  " 
(perfecta  contemplatio),  which  may  be  desired  and  even  asked 
for,  but  which  it  would  be  indiscreet  to  pursue,  for  only  a 
special  grace  can  bring  us  thereto  : 

"  If  it  be  a  question,"  says  Alvarez  de  Paz,  "  of  the  begin- 
ning of  contemplation  (de  inchoata  contemplatione),  in  which 

1  Tom.  Ill,  lib.  IV,  Proemium,  col.  934. 

2  Tom.  Ill,  col.  937  ff. 

3  Col.  943.  Alvarez  de  Paz  shows  how  beginners,  proficients,  and  the 
perfect  practice  affective  prayer,  lib.  IV,  part.  I-III,  torn.  Ill,  col.  950- 
1220. 

1  Tom.  Ill,  lib.  V,  col.   1221. 


Uhc  SpanisblScbool  223 

anyone  leaves  all  reasoning-  and  keeps  himself  in  the  presence 
of  our  Lord  Christ  or  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  with  his  heart 
burning-  with  love,  to  me  it  seems  certain  that  a  soul  purified 
from  its  vices,  freed  from  bad  and  unruly  affections,  and 
adorned  with  virtues,  can,  and  ought,  after  having  practised 
meditation,  to  try  to  attain  it.   .   .   . 

"If  we  now  speak  of  perfect  contemplation  (de  perfecta  con- 
templatione),  let  us  remember  that  it  is  of  two  kinds.  There 
are,  first  of  all,  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  contemplation 
bestowed  by  God  on  some  holy  souls,  such  as  ecstasies, 
raptures,  corporal  or  imaginative  apparitions,  and  other 
things  of  the  sort.  It  is  neither  permitted  to  desire  such  gifts 
nor  still  less  to  try  to  bring  them  about.  It  would  be  an  act 
of  ridiculous  pride.  .  .  .  The  other  kind  of  perfect  contem- 
plation consists  in  a  simple  knowledge  of  God,  without  any 
mental  consideration,  effected  by  the  gift  of  Wisdom  raising 
the  soul,  suspending  the  powers,  throwing  it  into  a  state  of 
admiration,  giving  it  joy,  and  enkindling  it  with  the  fire  of 
ardent  love.  Souls  called  to  perfection,  if  very  mortified, 
and  if  they  have  cultivated  virtue  and  are  devoted  to  prayer, 
must  prepare  for  this  contemplation  by  greater  purity  and 
by  the  means  of  which  I  have  spoken.  May  they  also  desire 
it  keenly  and  ask  it  humbly  of  God?  Why  not?  It  is  the 
most  efficacious  way  of  winning  perfection.  .  .  .  However, 
though  it  be  expedient  and  right  for  the  perfect  who  are 
stripped  of  their  vices  and  possess  all  the  virtues  to  ask  it  of 
God  in  all  humility,  yet  no  one  should  seek  to  attain  it  or  try 
to  abide  in  it;  for  that  does  not  depend  on  man's  efforts,  but 
on  God's  liberality."1 

Thus,  according  to  Alvarez  de  Paz,  there  are  two  kinds 
of  contemplation,  one  accessible  to  all  indiscriminately,  for 
which  all  should  prepare.  It  depends  upon  us  alone  to  attain 
to  it  with  the  help  of  ordinary  grace.  This  is  "  the  begin- 
ning of  contemplation,"  later  called  "  active  "  or  "  acquired  " 
contemplation.  Alvarez  de  Paz  does  but  echo  the  Spanish 
School,  which  threw  this  sort  of  contemplation  into  relief  and 
defined  its  nature.  The  other  is  perfect  contemplation,  the 
"  infused"  contemplation  of  the  moderns. 

His  terminology  is  less  precise  when  he  is  enumerating 
the  degrees  of  perfect  contemplation.  He  reckons  fifteen  of 
them  !2    Here,  indeed,  he  does  but  compile  and  heap  together, 

1  Nemo  debet  ad  earn  conari,  aut  quasi  in  ea  se  fonere,  quia  non  est 
id  in  fotestate  humana,  sed  venit  ex  benignitate  divina.  Lib.  V, 
pars  II,  cap.  xiii,  col.  1381-1382.  Alvarez  de  Paz  speaks  at  length  of 
the  preparations  for  contemplation.  He  draws  much  from  Gerson, 
col.  1231-1324.  So,  too,  when  he  treats  of  the  nature  of  contemplation, 
col.  1323. 

2  These  are :  intuition  of  the  truth,  interior  recollection,  spiritual 
silence,  quiet,  union,  hearing  God's  voice,  spiritual  sleep,  ecstasy, 
rapture,    corporal    visions,    imaginative    visions,    intellectual    visions, 


224  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

without  sufficient  discernment,  the  teaching-  he  found  in  the 
old  spiritual  writers.  The  gradation  of  the  contemplative 
states  which  he  gives  does  not  correspond  with  the  reality, 
nor  was  it  followed  afterwards.  Often  he  takes  some 
secondary  circumstance  of  a  mystical  state  for  a  specifically 
different  degree  of  contemplation.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
passes  over  in  silence  the  mystical  marriage,  which  is  re- 
garded as  the  highest  degree  of  mystical  union.  Alvarez  de 
Paz  considers  that  the  highest  degree  of  perfect  contempla- 
tion is  the  intuitive  vision  of  God. 

For  very  short  moments,  is  it  possible  for  man  to  enjoy 
such  ineffable  vision  while  on  earth  ?  There  is  much  con- 
troversy about  it  among  spiritual  writers.  All  agree  that 
Moses,  St  Paul,  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  enjoyed  this 
privilege ;  several  think  that  it  has  been  accorded  to  other 
holy  persons,  and  in  particular  to  St  Benedict  and  St  Igna- 
tius of  Loyola.  There  are  some,  indeed — St  Bonaventure, 
Harphius,  and  Ruysbroeck  are  among  them — who  believe 
that  those  who  are  raised  to  a  very  high  degree  of  sanctity 
see  God  intuitively  from  time  to  time  with  the  swiftness  of 
a  flash  of  lightning.  Alvarez  de  Paz  is  not  among  these. 
He  reckons  that — excepting  Moses,  St  Paul,  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  and  perhaps  two  or  three  other  saints — no  one 
on  earth  intuitively  perceives  the  divine  Essence.1 


Ill— THE  THREE  CONCEPTIONS  OF  MYSTICAL 
CONTEMPLATION:  "  QUIETIST  "  CONTEMPLA- 
TION, "  ANTI-INTELLECTUALIST  "  CONTEM- 
PLATION, AND  "  INTELLECTUALIST  "  CON- 
TEMPLATION—FRANCIS SUAREZ2 

When  Spanish  theologians  were  synthesizing  spirituality  at 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  various  problems, 

divine  darkness,  the  clear  manifestation  of  God,  the  intuitive  vision  of 
God.  Luis  de  la  Puente  used  several  of  these  terms  to  designate 
mystical  union  or  contemplation. 

1  Lib.  V,  pars  III,  cap.  xv,  col.  1463  ff.  In  chap,  xvi  Alvarez  de 
Paz  speaks  of  the  most  keen  spiritual  sweetness  which  accompanies  con- 
templation. Then  he  finishes  his  work  with  a  treatise  on  the  discern- 
ment of  spirits  (pars  IV).  We  must  also  note,  among  the  Spanish 
Jesuits,  Pedro  Sanchez,  who  wrote  the  Libro  del  regno  de  Dios  for  the 
Fathers  of  the  Society,  Madrid,  1594.  French  translation  by  G. 
Levite,  O.P.,  Paris,  1608-1609.  Alonzo  d'Andrada  wrote  Meditations 
for  every  Day  in  the  Year,  and  translated  the  ascetical  works  of 
Bellarmine  into  Spanish. 

2  Francis  Suarez,  like  Alvarez  de  Paz,  summed  up  and  discussed  the 
opinions  of  his  forerunners  and  contemporaries.  He  is  rather  theologian 
of  dogma  and  morals  than  of  spirituality.  Nevertheless  his  treatise  De 
Oratione,  especially  Book  II,  dealing  with  prayer  and  contemplation, 
is  a  treatise  of  spirituality.    His  treatise  De  statu  ferjectionis  contains 


ftbe  Spaniel)  Scbool  -225 

only  suspected  hitherto,  stood  clearly  forth.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  of  them  concerns  the  very  essence  of  contempla- 
tion, the  nature  of  mystical  union.  Can  contemplation  arise 
without  any  knowledge  of  the  mind  and  without  any  act  of 
the  will? 

The  different  solutions  put  forward  showed  the  diverse 
conceptions  of  mysticism  formed  by  the  early  or  modern 
writers. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  spiritual  writers,  the  soul  is  entirely 
passive  in  mystical  contemplation.  It  is  so  absorbed  in  the 
object  of  contemplation  that  neither  its  understanding  nor  its 
will  are  in  a  state  of  activity.  "  This  kind  of  prayer,"  says 
Suarez,  "  is  called  the  prayer  of  silence,  the  spiritual  sleep."1 
The  soul  says  nothing,  it  does  not  act ;  it  waits  for  God  to 
speak  to  it.  This  sort  of  contemplation  may  be  termed 
'  quietist,"  giving  the  word  its  etymological  meaning. 

This  notion  of  contemplation  comes  from  the  Areopagite, 
who  counsels  the  mystic,  if  he  wishes  to  be  united  with  God, 
always  to  become  disentangled  not  only  from  the  senses,  but 
from  every  operation  of  the  mind,  and  to  raise  himself  by 
unknowing  to  the  divine  darkness.  The  German  mystics, 
and  particularly  Tauler,  accept  this  view.  No  doubt  the  soul 
prepares  for  contemplation  by  its  own  efforts,  but  when  it  has 
reached  it,  it  must  cease  to  act  and  remain  passive  under  the 
action  of  God  :  Potius  divina  patiens  quam  agens. 

On  metaphysical  grounds  scholastic  theologians  reject  this 
teaching  :  "  No  mode  of  mental  prayer  can  be  imagined,"  says 
Suarez,  "  in  which  the  understanding  and  the  will  would  be 
absolutely  passive."2  If  we  do  not  think  of  God  in  any  way, 
how  can  we  know  that  we  are  praying  to  him?  And  if  the 
will  be  not  attached  to  him,  how  can  we  say  that  it  loves 
him?  To  that  the  reply  is  that  the  mystics  discover  higher 
spiritual  regions  unexplored  by  metaphysicians.  They  call 
them  the  "  bottom  "  or  "  summit  of  the  soul  "  or  otherwise, 
and  there  it  is  that  they  believe  that  intimate  union  with  God 
takes  place  in  the  silence  of  all  the  faculties. 

However,  most  spiritual  writers  reject  such  radical  notions. 
According  to  them,   the  soul   is  but  partially  passive.      The 

the  classic  notion  of  perfection  (lib.  I,  cap.  iii-iv).  Therein  he  studies 
the  religious  state  and  the  vows  of  the  religious  life.  Francis  Suarez, 
the  Jesuit  theologian,  was  born  at  Granada  in  1548.  He  taught  theology 
with  great  success  at  Alcala,  Salamanca,  and  Coimbra  in  Portugal.  He 
died  at  Lisbon  in  1617.  His  works  were  published  at  Lyons,  1630,  at 
Venice,  1740,  and  at  Paris  in  1859  (Vives). 

1  Suarez,  De  Oratione,  lib.  II,  cap.  xii,  1. 

2  ibid.,  2.     Cf.  Melchior  de  Villanueva  (ti6o6),  Libro  de  la  oracion 
mental,  Toledo,  1608. 

III.  I5 


226  Cbtistlan  Spirituality 

mind  does  not  act  in  contemplation,  but  the  will  is  active  and 
makes  acts  of  love.  When  the  mystic  is  raised  to  the  highest 
states,  he  loves  God  without  any  actually  accompanying 
knowledge  of  him.  The  soul  behaves  as  if  it  were  solely 
affective  and  without  understanding.  Everyone  knows  that 
the  more  perfect  mental  prayer  becomes,  the  more  is  it 
simplified  and  the  rarer  are  its  reasonings.  A  time  may  come 
when  the  mind  altogether  ceases  to  act ;  only  the  will  con- 
tinues to  do  so  by  expressing  its  love  for  God.  Such  is 
"  anti-intellectualist  "  contemplation.  What  are  we  to  think 
of  it? 

"  It  is  a  question  long  and  sharply  disputed,  not  only  by  the 
spiritual  writers,  but  also  by  the  doctors  of  the  school,"  says 
Alvarez  de  Paz.1  He  considers  that  at  the  beginning  of 
mystical  prayer  there  is  a  knowledge  of  God,  but  that  after- 
wards nothing  but  love  remains.  The  soul  is  united  to 
God  by  the  will  only.  Alvarez  de  Paz,  as  we  know,  favours 
affective  devotion.  He  dissertates  at  length  on  affective 
prayer.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  believes  in  the  possi- 
bility of  a  purely  affective  contemplation  in  which  the  under- 
standing takes  no  part.  A  good  many  medieval  spiritual 
writers  set  forth,  as  we  have  seen,  an  anti-intellectual  kind  of 
mysticism.  Nicolas  of  Cusa,  and  the  writer  of  the  Docta 
Ignorantia,  Hugh  of  Palma,  are  the  most  famous  among 
them.2  They  thought  that  no  knowledge  was  necessary  for 
mystical  union,  either  before  or  whilst  it  was  taking  place  : 
Sine  cognitione  praevia  aut  concomitante. 

But  according  to  most  of  the  scholastic  theologians,  con- 
templation is  always  intellectual  :  "It  is  probable,"  states 
Suarez,  "  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  affective  part  of  the 
soul  to  act  without  the  previous  knowledge  required  for  its 
action."3  Thus,  the  will  is  unable  to  make  an  act  of  love  for 
God  if  the  intellect  has  no  actual  knowledge  of  him  whom  it 
loves.  It  can  only  tend  towards  its  object  when  this  is  pre- 
viously known.  This  celebrated  theologian  proves  this  thesis 
at  length  and  leaves  not  one  of  the  anti-intellectualist  objec- 
tions unanswered.  His  conclusion — which  is  regarded  as 
classical  among  the  scholastics — is  that,  even  in  the  highest 
mystical  states,  the  intellect  is  never  altogether  passive.  The 
outward  senses  alone,  in  ecstasy,  may  be  totally  suspended. 

However,  on  other  points,  Suarez  diverges  from  the  gener- 
ally received  views.  Thus,  he  considers  that  the  intuitive 
vision  of  God  may  occur  in  the  soul  without  being  accom- 
panied by  ecstasy.4  Christ,  in  fact,  enjoyed  such  vision, 
and  nevertheless  he  acted  as  other  men  do.     Hence  we  may 

1  Tom.  Ill,  lib.  IV,  pars  III,  col.  1123  ff. 

2  St  Bonaventure  and  Gerson  are  strongly  in  favour  of  purely  affective 
mysticism. 

8  De  oratione,  lib.  II,  cap.  xiii,  7.  4  ibid.,  cap.  xvi. 


XTbe  Spanfsb  Scbool  227 

infer  that  ecstasy  is  rather  a  sign  of  the  weakness  of  man's 
organism,  than  a  condition  of  the  highest  spiritual  union  with 
God.  It  is  a  "  crisis  of  growth."  When  anyone  is  raised 
to  the  most  perfect  states,  it  ceases  to  occur.  Such,  too, 
was  indeed  the  idea  of  St  Teresa  :  "  When  the  soul  has  once 
reached  this  place  (the  Seventh  Mansion  of  the  Castle),  it  has 
no  more  raptures,  or,  if  it  has,  which  very  rarely  happens, 
they  are  not  uplifting-  and  flights  of  the  spirit  such  as  I  have 
spoken  of."1 

The  problems  raised  about  the  subject  of  prayer  have  always 
aroused  the  passionate  interest  of  the  spiritual  writers  of 
Spain.  In  the  seventeenth  century  treatises  on  prayer 
swarmed  in  that  country.2 


IV— THE  VENERABLE  MARY  OF  AGREDA3 

Mary  of  Agreda  originated  a  new  kind  of  mystical  writings. 
This  is  partly  the  reason  of  her  name  becoming  the  butt  of 
such  lively  contradictions. 

1  Interior  Castle,  Seventh  Mansion,  chap,  iii,  CEuvres,  VI,  p.  300. 

*  Here  are  the  principal  Spanish  treatises  on  prayer  belonging  to 
the  seventeenth  century:  Arte  de  bien  vivir  y  guia  de  los  caminos  del 
cielo,  1608,  by  the  Benedictine,  Antonio  de  Alvarado,  who  reproduces 
in  his  treatise  a  Tratado  del  conocimiento  oscuro  de  Dios,  attributed  to 
St  John  of  the  Cross  {Obras  de  San  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  torn.  Ill);  De  la 
oracion  mental,  y  via  unitiva,  Valencia,  161 1,  by  Antonio  Pascal,  O.M.  ; 
De  oratione  et  contemplatione,  Lisbon,  161 1,  in  Portuguese,  Alphonso 
de  Medina,  O.M. ;  Exercicios  espirituales  de  las  excelencias,  provecho, 
y  necesidad  de  la  oracion  mental,  Burgos,  1615,  by  the  Carthusian, 
Antonio  de  Molina ;  the  Obras  of  Blessed  John  Baptist  of  the  Concep- 
tion, Trinitarian  (-t-1613),  Rome,  1830;  Navegacion  segura  far  a  el  cielo, 
Valencia,  1611,  by  Jerome  de  Segorbe,  Capuchin;  Vuelo  del  espiritu 
y  escala  de  perfeccion,  Seville,  1612,  El  solitario  contemplativo  y  guia 
espiritual,  Lisbon,  1616,  by  George  of  St  Joseph,  of  the  Order  of 
Mercy ;  De  la  vida  espiritual,  y  perfeccidn  Christiana,  Valencia,  1612, 
by  Antonio  Sobrino,  O.M.  ;  Mistica  Theulugia  y  doctrina  de  la  per- 
feccidn Evangelica,  by  the  Minim,  John  Breton,  Madrid,  1614;  Luz 
de  las  maravillas  que  Dios  ha  obradas  per  visiones  y  hablas  corporales, 
imaginarias,  y  intelectuales ,  by  the  Benedictine,  Leander  de  Granada, 
Manriquez,  Valladolid,  1617;  Desengano  de  religiosos  y  de  almas  que 
tratan  de  virtud,  by  Mary  de  la  Antigua,  religious  of  Mercy  (+1617), 
Seville,  1678  ;  Mystica  theologia  et  exercitium  Fidei  divinae  et  orationis 
mentalis,  by  the  Minim  Ferdinand  Caldera,  Madrid,  1623,  French  and 
Italian  translations ;  Philip  de  Luz,  Augustinian,  Tratado  da  vida  con- 
templativa,  Lisbon,  1627 ;  Jerome  Planes,  Examen  de  revelaciones 
verdaderas  y  falsas,  y  de  los  raptos,  Valencia,  1634 ;  Gabriel  Lopez 
Navarro,  Minim,  Theulugia  mistica,  union  y  junta  perfecta  del  Alma 
con  Dios  por  medio  de  la  contemplacion,  Madrid,  1641  ;  Augustine  of 
St  Alphonsus,  Augustinian,  Theulugia  mistica:  scientia  y  sabiduria  de 
Dios,  mysteriosa,  obscura,  y  levantada  para  muchos,  Alcala,  1644 ; 
Paul  de  Vasconellos,  of  the  Order  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Arte 
spiritual  que  ensina  0  que  he  necessario  para  a  meditacao  e  contem- 
placao,  Lisbon,  1649. 

8  Born  at  Agreda  in  Spain  in  1602,  she  entered  the  monastery  of 
the   Immaculate   Conception  of  the   Order   of    St   Francis   in   the  same 


228  Christian  Spirituality 

This  famous  Franciscan  nun  was  the  first,  apparently,  to 
have  the  idea  of  completing-  the  Gospel  story  with  her  own 
special  revelations.  Anne  Catherine  Emmerich,  at  the  begin- 
ning- of  the  nineteenth  century,  resumed  the  same  kind  of 
enterprise  with  greater  success. 

In  fact,  Mary  of  Agreda  claimed  to  write  a  detailed  history 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  We  know  how  sparing  of  in- 
formation are  the  Gospels  about  the  earthly  life  of  the  Mother 
of  God.  Could  not  the  mystics  who  had  revelations  fill  up 
this  gap?  Mary  of  Agreda  believed  she  was  called  to  fulfil 
this  task.  Her  famous  Mystical  City  of  God  is  presented  as 
"  a  divine  story  and  a  life  of  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God." 
She  relates  minutely,  and  as  revealed  by  angels,  all  the  occur- 
rences that  preceded  Mary's  birth,  then  those  of  her  life  until 
her  death.  The  story  is  interspersed  with  edifying  mystical 
considerations. 

Apparently  there  are  no  errors  of  doctrine  in  the  work  of 
Mary  of  Agreda,  but  what  historical  improbabilities  !  Often 
imaginative  fancies  are  taken — in  perfect  good  faith — for 
authentic  revelations.  And  what  is  more,  Mary  of  Agreda 
seems  to  be  well  up  in  such  apocryphal  writings  as  The 
Infancy  of  Jesus  and  The  Nativity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary.     Her  work  was  bound  to  incur  criticism. 

This  was  not  slow  in  forthcoming.  The  book  appeared 
in  Spanish  at  Madrid  in  1670,  five  years  after  the  death  of 
Mary  of  Agreda.  Its  novelty  and  also  its  author's  reputa- 
tion for  sanctity  won  an  extraordinary  vogue  for  it.  But 
very  ardent  controversies  arose,  so  that  Pope  Innocent  III 
in  1681  forbade  the  reading  of  the  Mystical  City.  However, 
advice  deferring  the  execution  of  his  decree  on  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  on  him  by  Charles  III  of  Spain. 

The  French  translation  of  Mary  of  Agreda's  book,  pub- 
lished at  Marseilles  in  1695,  revived  the  discussions,  and  next 
year  they  became  more  impassioned  than  ever.  On  Septem- 
ber 17,  1698,  the  Sorbonne  condemned  The  Mystical  City  of 
God  as  containing  rash  assertions  and  apocryphal  revelations 
"  of  such  a  nature  as  to  expose  the  Catholic  religion  to  the 

town.  She  was  Abbess  of  this  monastery  until  her  death  in  1665.  She 
enjoyed  a  great  reputation  for  sanctity.  Her  cause  for  canonization 
was  introduced  in  1673,  but  was  not  successful.  Mary  of  Agreda  was 
a  correspondent  of  Philip  IV  of  Spain.  This  king's  letters  were 
published  at  Madrid  in  1890  :  Car/as  de  la  ven.  madre  sor  Maria  de 
Agreda  y  del  sehor  Rey  Felipe  IV .  The  most  celebrated  mystical  work 
of  Mary  of  Agreda  is  a  history  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  founded 
on  her  revelations  :  La  mistica  ciudad  de  Dios  .  .  .,  historia  divina 
y  vida  de  la  virgen  madre  de  Dios  .  .  .,  written  from  1655  to  1660  and 
published  at  Madrid  in  1670  after  the  writer's  death.  Mary  of  Agreda 
left  other  ascetical  and  mystical  writings  which  were  never  published. 
The  bibliography  of  Mary  of  Agreda  will  be  found  in  the  Did.  de 
theol.  cath.,  art.  Agreda  (Marie  d'). 


XTbe  Spanfsb  Scbool  229 

contempt  of  the  ungodly  and  of  heretics."  Bossuet1  pro- 
nounced a  very  harsh  judgement  on  the  book.  Eusebius 
Acort,  the  learned  Canon  Regular  of  Pollingen,  is  no  less 
formidable  than  the  Bishop  of  Meaux  in  his  attacks  on  the 
work  of  Mary  of  Agreda.2 

These  sharp  discussions  did  harm  to  the  memory  of  the 
celebrated  nun.  They  put  a  stop  to  the  cause  of  her  canon- 
ization. 

1  Remark  on  The  Mystical  City  of  God. 

1  De  revehitionibus,  visionibus,  et  affaritionibus  frivatis  regulae 
tutae,  Augsburg,  1744;  Controversia  de  reveiationibus  Agredianis  .  .  ., 
Augsburg,  1749. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE  ITALIAN  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY— ITS 
GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  —  THE  CHIEF  ITALIAN 
SPIRITUAL  WRITERS1 

SPANISH  spirituality,  which  was  of  a  practical  nature 
at  the  beginning-  of  the  sixteenth  century,  became 
theoretical  and  scientific  with  and  after  St  John  of 
the  Cross.  Italian  spirituality  was  always  directed 
towards  the  practical  and  was  less  speculative. 
As  was  the  case  in  France  in  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is 
spirituality  in  action,  in  the  religious  communities  and  in 
the  lives  of  the  saints,  rather  than  spirituality  in  theory  or  in 
books.  It  was,  moreover,  spirituality  as  opposed  to  the 
paganism  of  the  Renaissance  and  to  Protestant  heresy. 

Those  responsible  for  the  Renaissance  in  Italy,  or  many 
among-  them,  were  frankly  pagan.  The  lively  Italian  imagin- 
ation had  been  dazzled  and  fascinated  by  the  new  birth  of 
antiquity.  Hence,  the  great  decline  in  morality,  against 
which  the  spiritual  writers  reacted.  This  spirit  of  reaction 
against  the  almost  universal  laxity  is  shown  in  their  teaching. 
Italian  asceticism  was  definitely  arrayed  in  spiritual  combat 
against  self,  for  when  self  is  vanquished  and  vice  subdued 
the  corruption  around  is  little  to  be  feared.  This  movement 
of  energetic  spirituality  and  inward  conflict  seems  to  have 
begun  first  among  the  Theatines  and  the  Barnabites.  John- 
Baptist  Carioni,  the  Dominican,  often  known  as  Baptist  da 
Crema,  from  the  place  of  his  birth,  who  acted  as  director 
to  St  Cajetan  of  Thiena,  founder  of  the  Theatines,  and  of 
St  Antony  Mary  Zaccaria,  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
Barnabites,  brought  all  his  spirituality  to  bear  on  the  know- 
ledge of  and  victory  over  self.2  It  was  from  his  circle  of 
disciples  that  there  was  to  come  later  on  that  famous  book  The 
Spiritual  Combat,  in  which  we  are  urged  to  continual  warfare 
against  ourselves. 

Heresy  was  even  more  to  be  feared  than  worldly-minded- 
ness  :  "  As  regards  heretics  and  their  dangerous  opinions," 

1  Cf.  G.  Tiraboschi,  Storia  delta  Letteratura  italiana,  Florence, 
1805-1813;  Tachi-Venturi,  Storia  delta  Comfagnia  di  Gesu  in  Italia, 
La  vita  religiosa  in  Italia  durante  la  -prima  eta  delta  Comfagnia  di 
Gesu,  Rome,  7910,  Vol.  I. 

2  Concerning  the  Knowledge  of  and  Victory  over  Self,  Milan,  1532, 
is  the  title  of  one  of  his  chief  works  on  spirituality. 

230 


XTbe  Italian  Scbool  231 

St  Angela  Mcrici  (11540)  counselled  her  daughters  the  Ursu- 
lines,  "  as  soon  as  you  hear  of  a  preacher  or  anyone  else  that 
he  is  suspected  of  sharing-  in  these  errors  and  allowing  these 
novelties,  contrary  to  the  teaching-  and  practice  of  the  Church 
or  to  the  principles  which  you  have  received  from  us,  imme- 
diately keep  your  daughters  [pupils]  away."1 

The  universal  advice  given  to  those  who  desire  to  preserve 
intact  their  faith  was  not  to  dispute  with  error,  but  to  fly 
from  it.  "If  the  enemy  suggest  to  you  some  false  and 
captious  reasoning,  be  on  your  guard  against  arguing  with 
him,"  advises  the  author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat.2  Protes- 
tantism made  fewer  ravages  in  Italy  than  elsewhere.  Its 
coldness,  lacking  all  aesthetic  form,  with  nothing  to  appeal 
to  the  senses,  bewildered  the  expansive  Italian  temperament, 
which  yearns  for  outward  demonstration.  The  Inquisition, 
nevertheless,  must  have  dealt  vigorously  with  it  from  time  to 
time.  The  discreet  and  individual  work  of  the  spiritual- 
minded  was  doubtless  a  still  more  efficacious  means  of  pre- 
servation. 

Italian  spirituality  furthermore  was  one  of  the  best  agencies 
of  the  Catholic  counter-reformation.  It  was  in  the  sixteenth 
century  in  Italy,  as  in  Spain,  that  there  arose  those  magnifi- 
cent institutions  for  the  renewal  of  Christian  life.  The 
Theatines  of  St  Cajetan,  the  Oblates  of  St  Charles  Borromeo, 
and  the  Oratorians  of  St  Philip  Neri  (f  1 595)  laboured  to 
uplift  the  secular  clergy.  The  Fathers  of  Christian  Doctrine 
of  Caesar  de  Bus  (-j-1607),  the  Fathers  of  the  Pious  Schools 
of  St  Joseph  Calasanza  (11648),  the  Ursulines  of  St  Angela 
Merici,  and  others,  undertook  to  instruct  and  bring  up  young 
boys  and  girls.  The  mysticism  of  these  holy  persons  impelled 
them  to  action  ;  like  all  true  mysticism  it  was  creative.  After 
reforming  self  others  must  be  reformed.  "  He  has  conquered 
himself,  he  has  overcome  the  world  and  the  flesh  "  was  said 
of  St  Charles  Borromeo.  His  life  "is  so  exemplary  that 
through  example  he  does  more  good  in  the  Court  of  Rome 
than  all  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent."3  Living  his 
asceticism  he  knew  how  to  find  the  means  of  bringing  others 
to  live  it  also. 

"  In  the  Catholic  Church,  as  everywhere  else,  reforms  are 
first  of  all  the  work  of  certain  individuals  who  earnestly  desire 
them,  and  end  by  imposing  them  on  public  opinion  and  on  the 
regular  agencies  of  the  hierarchy.     This  is  what  happened  in 

1  Souvenirs  ou  avis  de  Saint e  Angele,  j*  souvenir,  Saint e  Angele 
Merici  et  Vordre  des  Ursulines,  Paris,  1922,  Vol.  I,  p.  417.  "  Know," 
she  says  again,  "  that  you  will  have  to  defend  your  little  flock  against 
wolves  and  thieves,  two  kinds  of  plagues  which  I  point  out  to  you  : 
I  mean  worldly-mindedness  and  heretics."     Ibid. 

3  Chap,  lxiii. 

3  De  Hubner,  Sixte-Quint,  French  translation,  Vol.  I,  p.  64,  Paris, 
1870. 


232  Cbrfstian  Spirituality 

the  sixteenth  century."1  It  is  thus  that  Catholic  mystics 
have  acted  in  every  ag-e. 

Italian  mysticism,  moreover,  effected  reform  in  another  way 
which  carries  us  back  to  the  heart  of  the  Middle  Ages,  to  the 
time  of  St  Bridget  and  St  Catherine  of  Siena.  In  the  six- 
teenth century,  as  much  as  in  the  centuries  preceding  it,  the 
reform  of  the  Church  was  spoken  of  by  all.  St  Angela  Merici 
recommended  her  religious  to  pray  and  to  make  others  pray 
"  that  God  forsake  not  his  Church,  but  reform  it  himself  in 
accordance  with  his  good  will  and  in  the  way  he  knows  to 
be  best  for  us  and  most  able  to  promote  his  glory."2  St 
Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  (fi6o7)  was  not  content  only  to  pray. 
In  her  Carmel  at  Florence  she  dictated  letters  during  her 
ecstasy,  addressed  to  the  Cardinals  of  the  Roman  Curia,  to 
the  bishops,  and  even  to  Pope  Sixtus  V,  begging  them  on 
behalf  of  God  to  labour  for  the  renewal  of  the  Church.  In 
1586  she  wrote  to  the  "  Most  illustrious  cardinals  present  at 
the  Apostolic  See  "  : 

"  The  humble  servant  of  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  and  of 
the  Word  incarnate,  Christ  crucified,  compelled  by  the  sweet 
truth  and  unity  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  and  especially  by 
her  loving  Spouse — I  say  :  compelled,  and  let  them  be  pleased 
to  note  what  I  say  :  compelled — to  reveal  to  them  something 
that  is  not  less  pleasing  to  God  than  profitable  to  creatures, 
to  wit,  his  wish  to  reform  the  Church  his  Spouse,  through  you 
his  ministers  and  the  chief  members  of  this  same  Church."3 

And  in  fiery  accents  she  goes  on  to  unfold  the  urgent 
reasons  for  undertaking  this  work  of  Catholic  restoration 
without  delay. 

Another  mystic  belonging  to  the  Dominican  convent  of 
Prato  near  Florence,  St  Catherine  de  Ricci  (f  1590),  who  also 
was  fired  with  the  desire  for  the  reform  of  the  Church,  wrote 
urgent  letters  to  warn  the  cardinals,  to  reprimand  when  needful 
the  bishops,  and  to  encourage  those  who  laboured  for  the 
glory  of  God.4 


This  display  of  reforming  activity,  this  inward  combat, 
resolute  and  austere  against  self,  is  usually  found  hidden 
beneath  attractive  externals.     Italy  of  the  sixteenth  century 

1  A.  Baudrillart,  L'£glise  catholique,  la  Renaissance  et  le  Protes- 
tantisme,  p.  225. 

2  Sainte  Ang'ele  Merici,  ibid.,  p.  417. 

3  Lettres  de  sainte  Marie-Madeleine  de  Pazzi,  French  translation  by 
M.  Vaussard,  Revue  d'ascetigue  et  de  mystique,  April,  1924,  p.  160. 
These  Letters  were  never  sent  to  those  for  whom  they  were  destined. 
The  saint's  superiors  were  opposed  to  it.  They  were  published  in  1893 
at  Florence  in  the  saint's  Complete  Works. 

■4  Cesare  Guasti,  Letters  of  St  Catherine  de  Ricci,  Prato,  1861, 
Florence,  1890. 


Uhe  Italian  Scbool  233 

possesses  a  lovable  spirituality  which  gives  the  impression 
of  moderation  and  balance.  "  The  warlike  soul  of  Spain 
vibrates  in  St  Ignatius  and  St  Teresa."1  Its  most  wonderful 
outbursts  and  its  most  ardent  affective  impulses  almost  always 
show  forth  the  austerity  which  maintains  them. 

This  austerity  exists — who  can  doubt  it? — in  Italian 
spirituality,  but  more  often  than  not  it  is  delicately  veiled. 
St  Francis  de  Sales  carefully  noted  this  characteristic  of 
mystical  Italy  and  his  piety  was  impressed  with  it. 

Doubtless  it  is  in  Italy  that  the  Renaissance  exercised  the 
greatest  influence  on  spirituality.  The  Christian  humanists 
of  the  peninsula  dreamed  of  a  religion  "  wholly  of  art  and 
charity,  of  beauty  and  of  love."3  The  optimistic  calm  and 
joyous  rhythm  of  Raphael  belong  much  more  to  their  spirit 
than  does  the  pessimism  of  Michael  Angelo.  Cardinal 
Sadolet,  secretary  to  Leo  X  and  Bishop  of  Carpentras,  is  a 
perfect  tvpe  of  this  humanism.  "  His  Christianity  enlarges 
the  heart  because  in  it  are  summed  up  goodness  and  charity  ; 
he  has  no  bitterness  or  sadness,  he  becomes  all  things  to  all 
men  in  order  to  win  all  things  and  all  men."3  It  may  be 
thought,  however,  that  this  Christianity  is  too  forgetful  of 
mortification.  The  Italian  mystics,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
eschew  this  forgetfulness.  But  for  the  greater  part  they 
found  delight  in  the  beautiful  and  consoling-  aspects  of 
Christian  life,  in  whatever  dilates  the  heart  and  attracts  souls. 
St  Philip  Neri,  "  the  loving  saint  par  excellence  "  had  hymns, 
canticles,  and  Palestrina's  motets  at  the  gatherings  of  his 
first  disciples  in  Rome.  He  ever  had  on  his  lips  these  gentle 
words  :  "  My  children,  be  joyful.  .  .  .  The  spirit  of  joy  wins 
Christian  perfection  more  easily  than  does  the  spirit  of  sad- 
ness."4 There  must  be  no  melancholy,  even  among  thorns, 
says  in  turn  St  Catherine  de  Ricci.  And  again  St  Magdalen 
de  Pazzi  declared  that  "  God  does  not  want  a  sad  heart.  He 
wants  it  to  be  free  and  joyous."5  God  is  a  Father  even 
more  than  a  Judge. 

A  religion  of  art  and  beauty,  Christianity  is  above  all  a 
religion  of  love.  Italian  humanism  repeats  this  often  enough 
and  in  a  manner  gives  proof  of  it.   It  says  :   "  Christianity 

1  A.  Baudrillart,  p.  218. 

2  De  Maulde  la  Claviere,  Saint  Gaetan,  Paris,  1905,  p.  17. 
8  id.,  p.  69. 

4  Cardinal  Capecelatro,  Life  of  St  Philif  Neri,  Benin's  French  trans- 
lation, Vol.  I,  p.  512,  Paris,  1889. 

5  CEuvres  de  sainte  Marie-Madeleine  de  Pazzi,  French  translation 
by  Bruniaux,  Paris,  1873,  Vol.  I,  p.  512.  Cf.  pp.  176-177,  where  the 
saint  speaks  of  the  happy  consequences  of  original  sin.  Heureuse 
faute!  There  is  the  same  optimism  in  the  spirituality  of  Blessed 
Bellarmine.  Cf.  Monier-Vinard,  Le  Bienheureux  Cardinal  Bellarmin  et 
St  Francois  de  Sales  [Revue  d'ascitique  et  de  mystique,  July,  1923, 
pp.  225  ff). 


J  •<  ■ 


234  Cbristian  Spirituality 

is  less  an  ultimate  knowledge  of  thing-s  than  the  bond  between 
men  and  God  and  between  themselves,  a  bond  of  love  and 
grace  .  .  .  the  role  of  religion  is  to  produce  tenderness,  to 
make  men  gentle  and  by  means  of  this  to  give  them  real 
personal  energy  and  other  social  virtues,  goodness,  unity — 
in  a  word,  happiness."1  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  mystics  of 
Italy,  St  Francis  of  Assisi  and  St  Bonaventure  among  others, 
well  knew  how  to  act  on  the  feelings  in  order  to  raise  man 
to  God,  though  in  quite  another  way. 

With  the  thought  of  these  mystical  tendencies  of  the 
Middle  Ages  the  humanists  mingled  the  teachings  of  Plato. 
We  know  that  the  Platonic  theories  were  held  in  high  honour 
in  Italy  of  the  Renaissance.  Many  looked  upon  them  as  an 
introduction  to  mysticism.2  "  The  idea  that  the  visible  world 
was  created  by  the  God  of  love,  that  it  is  the  reproduction  of 
a  design,  pre-existing  in  him,  and  that  it  will  ever  receive 
from  its  creator  its  life  and  movement,"3  that  the  human 
soul  is  able  to  expand,  to  become  indefinitely  enlarged,  thanks 
to  divine  love,  this  idea  was  drawn  as  much  from  the 
writings  of  Plato  as  from  the  teachings  of  ecclesiastical 
writers.  Moreover,  the  humanists  delighted  to  discourse  on 
love.  Bembo,  secretary  to  Leo  X,  who  wrote  only  too  well 
of  human  love,  maintains  that  "  love  is  one,  and  from  par- 
ticular love  we  pass  to  love  that  is  ideal,  and  from  the  ideal 
to  love  that  is  divine."*  A  more  accurate  conception  of  the 
genesis  of  divine  love  will  be  found  in  the  Dialogues  attri- 
buted to  St  Catherine  of  Genoa,  in  the  Works  of  St  Mary 
Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  and  in  the  ascetic  treatises  of  Blessed 
Robert  Bellarmine. 

In  spite  of  everything  the  humanists  rendered  the  doctrine 
of  divine  love  familiar.  It  is  to  be  found,  more  or  less 
mingled,  in  all  the  religious  writings  of  the  Italy  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  took  so  great  a  hold  on  the  public 
mind  that  in  15 16,  at  Rome,  they  started  the  secret  society, 
which  very  soon  became  famous,  of  the  Oratorio  del  divino 
Amore.  Its  members  busied  themselves  with  the  beauty  of 
religion  and  with  the  needed  reforms  of  the  Church,  and 
took  up  the  work  of  charity  towards  the  unfortunate.  The 
Divino  Amore  very  soon  "  increased  in  Italy  by  means  of 
numerous  branches  like  a  kind  of  freemasonry."6     Its  chief 

1  De  Maulde  la  Claviere,  p.  167. 

2  Stephen  Conventius,  a  religious  of  the  Congregation  of  St  Saviour, 
wrote  a  book  of  this  kind  :  De  ascensu  mentis  in  Deum  ex  flatonica  et 
ferifatetica  doctrina  libri  sex,  Venice,  1563.  See  also  Philosofhia 
flatonica,  by  the  Franciscan,  Peter  Calauna,  Palermo,  159Q. 

3  J.  Burckhardt,  La  civilisation  en  Italie  au  temps  de  la  Renaissance, 
French  translation,  Schmidt,  Vol.  II,  pp.  346-347. 

4  In  his  Dialogues  on  Love  (Gli  Asolani),  John  Francis  Pico  de  la 
Mirandola  also  produced  a  treatise,  De  Amore  divino,  dedicated  to 
Leo  X. 

6   Be  Maulde  la  Claviere,  St  Ga'etan,  p.  32. 


XEbe  Italian  Scbool  235 

founder  was  Ettore  Vernazza,  a  disciple  of  St  Catherine  of 
Genoa,  the  great  founder  in  the  sixteenth  century  of  Italian 
hospitals.1  Sadolet  and  St  Cajetan  were  the  first  to  join  it. 
This  association  was  not  unconnected  with  the  magnificent 
outburst  of  charitable  works  of  every  kind  which  were  so 
admirable  in  Italy  of  the  Renaissance. 


I— JOHN  BAPTIST  CARIONI,  DOMINICAN  (BATTISTA 
DA  CREMA),  AND  SERAFINO  DA  FERMO, 
CANON  REGULAR,  LEADERS  OF  THE  CANONS 
REGULAR— THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  CONGRE- 
GATIONS OF  THE  ITALIAN  CLERKS  REGULAR 

Jerome  Savonarola  (11498)  in  his  sermons  and  in  his 
writings  strove  vigorously  in  Florence  against  the  pagan 
morals  of  the  Renaissance.  Some  years  later  his  less  famous 
confrere,  John  Baptist  Carioni,2  the  Dominican,  was  to  be- 
come one  of  the  originators  of  the  Catholic  reaction  in  Italian 
spirituality. 

Baptist  da  Crema,  as  he  was  commonly  known,  was  a  fine 
worker  in  the  reform  of  morals,  both  as  a  preacher  and  as  a 
director  of  souls.3  To  extend  his  influence  he  wrote  several 
spiritual  treatises,  in  which  he  dealt  especially  with  the  need 
of  reaction  against  the  general  corruption,  and  also  with 
men's  prevalent  vices,  both  inward  and  outward,  and  with 
the  remedies  against  them.  Like  all  reformers,  he  insists  on 
personal  effort.  He  "  marches  at  the  head  of  this  movement 
in  spirituality  which  was  to  go  on  increasing  in  the  course 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  in  which  so  much 
stress  is  laid  on  voluntary  effort  and  the  expansion  of  outward 
activity.     Baptist  da  Crema  is  a  teacher  of  spiritual  energy 

1  F.  Von  Hiigel,  The  Mystical  Elements  of  Religion  as  Studied  in 
Saint  Catherine  of  Genoa  and  her  Friends,  London,  1908,  Vol.  I, 
p.  140;  Tacchi  Venturi,  Storia  della  Comfagnia  di  Gcsu  in  Italia, 
Rome,  1910,  Vol.  I,  p.  497;  L.  Pastor,  Histoire  des  Pafes,  French 
translation,  Vol.  VIII,  2nd  edition,  p.  345. 

8  Born  at  Crema  near  Milan,  he  died  at  Guastalla,  in  the  duchy  of 
Parma,  in  1534.  He  joined  the  Dominicans  of  the  Province  of  Lom- 
bardy.  He  was  a  gifted  preacher  and  a  good  director  of  souls.  Cf. 
G.  Salvadori,  San  Gaetano  da  Thiene  et  la  Riforma  cattolica  italiana, 
French  translation  with  historical  notes  added,  by  Maulde  la  Claviere ; 
Premoli,  Barnabite,  Fra  Battista  da  Crema  secondo  documenti  inediti, 
Roma,  1910;  by  the  same  author,  San  Gaetano  Thiene  e  Fra  Battista 
da  Crema  (Revista  di  Scienze  storiche,  Pavia,  VII,  1910,  fasc.  VII- 
VIII) ;  and  also  Storia  dei  Barnabiti  nel  Cinquecento,  Roma,  1913, 
pp.  4-6,  13-15,  30-32,  108-113,  198-200. 

3  Via  di  a-perta  verita,  Venice,  1523,  often  republished;  Della  cogni- 
tione  et  vitioria  di  se  stesso,  Milan,  1531,  republished  several  times; 
Sfecchio  interiore,  Milan,  1532;  Filosofia  divina,  Venice,  1545.  Cf. 
Storia  dei  Barnabiti,  pp.  10S  ff.,  510. 


236  Cbristiatt  Spirituality 

for  the  work  of  reform  of  self  and  of  Christian  society.  From 
this  point  of  view,  as  well  as  several  others,  he  takes  a  prom- 
inent place  with  the  initiators  of  the  prevailing  spirit  and 
spirituality  of  the  Clerks  Regular. "* 

Was  this  spirituality,  quite  "  Molinist  "  in  anticipation  and 
inspired  by  the  writings  of  Cassian,  the  cause  of  certain 
difficulties  which  Baptist  da  Crema  had  with  his  Order? 
Semi-pelagian  tendencies  were  constantly  thought  to  be  found 
in  his  writings,  nor  did  he  treat  the  question  of  pure  dis- 
interested love  with  accuracy.  Lively  discussions  arose,  and, 
after  the  death  of  Baptist  da  Crema  in  1552,  ecclesiastical 
authority,  which  was  as  specially  rigid  at  this  period  in  Italy 
as  it  was  in  Spain,  placed  his  writings  on  the  Index.2 

The  disgrace  was  posthumous.  When  he  was  alive,  in 
spite  of  difficulties  which  his  superiors,  Baptist  da  Crema 
exercised  a  real  influence  on  several  choice  souls.  St  Cajetan, 
founder  of  the  Theatines,  and  St  Antony  Mary  Zaccaria,  the 
chief  founder  of  the  Barnabites,  were  directed  by  him  at  a 
moment  when  they  were  seeking  their  way.  The  Countess  of 
Guastalla,  Louisa  di  Torelli,  who  instituted  the  congregation 
of  the  Angelicals  or  Guastallines,  in  order  to  help  the  Barna- 
bites in  their  apostolate  among  women,  had  also  been  led 
towards  the  religious  life  by  the  zealous  Dominican. 

One  of  the  great  admirers  of  Baptist  da  Crema  was 
Serafino  Aceto  da  Portis,  Canon  of  the  Lateran,  more  often 
known  as  Serafino  da  Fermo.  Serafino  published  a  collection 
of  tracts  at  Milan  in  1538,3  more  or  less  inspired  by  the 
Dominican  de  Crema,  which  were  translated  into  Castilian 
in  1551.  Luis  of  Granada  had  read  them  when  he  published 
his  famous  Book  of  Prayer  and  Meditation  in  1554.  Serafino 
da  Fermo  became  the  defender  of  Baptist  da  Crema.  He 
wrote  an  apology  for  his  teaching,4  which,  however,  did  not 
prevent  it  from  being  condemned.  Desirous  as  he  was  for 
the  reform  of  the  Church,  the  pious  canon  greatly  encouraged 

1  P.  Mandonnet,  O.P.,  Preface  to  the  Victoire  sur  soi-meme  de  Mel- 
chior  Cano,  Paris,  1923,  p.  11. 

3  They  are  no  longer  on  the  Index  since  1900.  With  reference  to  this 
incident  which  troubled  the  Order  of  Barnabites,  6ee  Premoli,  Storia 
del  Barnabiti,  cap.  vii,  pp.  108-112;  cap.  xii,  p.  197-200.  Melchior 
Cano  thought  Baptist  da  Crema  as  dangerous  as  Tauler  and  Harphius. 

8  Oferette  sfirituali.  These  tracts  are  :  Of  the  Conversion  of  the 
sinner;  Of  the  Victory  over  Self  (translated  into  Spanish  by  Melchior 
Cano);  Of  Discretion ;  Of  the  Mirror  of  the  Soul;  Of  One  Hundred 
Questions  and  Answers  respecting  Prayer.  Serafino  da  Fermo  died  in 
1539.  Before  him  another  Canon  Regular,  Peter  of  Lucca,  had 
published  the  Regule  della  vita  sfirituale  e  secreta  theologia,  Bologna, 
1507.  The  Spanish  translation  by  Luis  of  Granada  (Seville,  1548)  may 
possibly  be  known. 

4  Published  in  the  1541  edition  of  the  Oferette  sfirituali.  Fr. 
Premoli  has  reproduced  it  in  //  Rosario  Memorie  Dominicane,  1918, 
PP-  29-34,  71-76,   107-113. 


Ubc  Italian  Scbool  237 

the  founders  of  the  Barnabites  and  seconded  their  projects. 
Together  with  Baptist  da  Crema,  though  in  a  lesser  degree, 
he  gave  an  impetus  to  the  first  Clerks  Regular. 

The  illustrious  penitents  of  Baptist  da  Crema,  St  Cajetan, 
St  Antony  Mary  Zaccaria,  and  the  Countess  Louisa  de  Torelli, 
noted  that  in  order  to  establish  a  Christian  society  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  clergy  was  needed.  A  pure,  fervent  clergy, 
living  the  life  of  religious,  but  mingled  more  than  they  with 
society ;  instructing,  preaching,  hearing  confessions,  direct- 
ing schools  ;  this  it  was  that  rightly  seemed  to  them  to  be 
the  best  means  of  Christian  reform.  A  double  end  would 
thus  be  obtained  :  the  people  would  be  evangelized  and  the 
secular  clergy  reformed  by  example.  For  the  latter  could  not 
be  reformed  in  a  body.  Councils  had  issued  laws,  and  with 
threats  had  exhorted  the  clergy  to  amend.1  The  results 
thus  obtained  were  very  small.  It  was  hoped  that,  by 
addressing  themselves  individually  to  priests,  by  preaching 
and  by  example,  something  better  might  be  achieved. 

Such  were  the  ideas  which  inspired  the  founders  of  the 
Italian  congregations  of  Clerks  Regular.  When  St  Ignatius 
came  to  Rome  in  1357  he  brought  with  him  similar  ideas. 
They  wrought  a  new  transformation  in  monasticism  ;  to  the 
older  conception  of  monk  and  friar  there  was  added  that  of 
the  Clerk  Regular. 

This  transformation  began  with  the  three  religious  Orders 
of  Theatines,  Somaschi,  and  Barnabites.  These  three  Orders 
were  born  about  the  same  time,  at  three  different  points  in 
Italy.2  At  Rome  in  1525,  St  Cajetan3  started  the  Theatines; 
at  Milan  in  1530,  St  Antony  Mary  Zaccaria4  and  two  other 
priests  founded  the  Clerks  Regular  of  St  Paul  or  Barnabites  ; 

*  Especially  the  fifth  Council  of  the  Lateran  (1512-1517)  under  Leo  X, 
the  regulations  of  which  had  little  practical  result. 

3  Cardinal  Capecelatro,  Life  of  St  Philip  Neri,  French  translation, 
B£zin,  Vol.  II,  p.  12,  Paris,  1889. 

s  St  Cajetan  was  born  at  Vicenza  in  1480,  of  an  illustrious  family. 
He  was  first  of  all  a  Roman  prelate.  Then,  with  John  Peter  Caraffa, 
the  future  Pope  Paul  IV,  Boniface  Colli,  and  Paul  de  Ghisleri  he 
founded  an  order  of  Clerks  Regular  in  Rome  called  Theatines,  because 
Caraffa,  the  first  Superior,  retained  the  title  of  Archbishop  of  Tiene 
(Chieti).  St  Cajetan  died  at  Naples  in  1547.  The  principal  document  of 
the  history  of  St  Cajetan  is  his  Life,  by  the  Theatine,  Antony  Caracciolo, 
published  at  Cologne  in  1612.  See  De  Maulde  la  Claviere,  St  Gaetan, 
Paris,  1905,  in  which  a  complete  bibliography  will  be  found.  There 
are  Letters  of  St  Cajetan,  published  by  the  Abb6  de  Barral  in  1785, 
Paris,  reproduced  in  De  Maulde,  pp.  182-201.  The  Italian  text  is  in 
G.  Salvadori,  pp.  48  ff. 

4  Born  at  Cremona,  in  the  Milan  district,  he  studied  at  Padua.  After 
becoming  a  priest  he  showed  his  zeal  by  labouring,  with  much  fruit,  at 
the  reform  of  the  morals  of  the  faithful.  At  Milan  he  founded  the 
Barnabites,  with  the  assistance  of  Bartholomew  Ferrari  and  James 
Morigia.     Their  chief  object  was  the  preaching  of  missions   and  the 


238  Cbristiau  Spirituality 

finally,  in  1531,  at  Venice,  St  Jerome  Emilian1  formed  the 
Somaschi.  After  these  several  holy  persons,  in  this  mar- 
vellous sixteenth  century,  established  similar  congregations 
in  Italy  to  respond  to  the  various  needs  of  the  time. 

The  Italian  religious  congregations  of  this  period  are 
divided  into  two  classes.  The  one  was  principally  concerned 
with  the  reform  of  the  clergy  and  with  the  moral  improve- 
ment of  the  people  by  means  of  missions  and  other  zealous 
works  ;  these  were  the  Theatines,  the  Barnabites,  the  Orator- 
ians  of  St  Philip  Neri,  the  Oblates  of  St  Charles  Borromeo, 
and  the  Minor  Clerks  Regular  (clerici  regulares  minor es)  of 
St  Francis  Caracciolo  and  John  Adorno.  The  other  was 
occupied  with  the  education  of  youth  or  with  the  care  of  the 
sick  in  the  hospitals.  Among  these  may  be  cited  :  the 
Somaschi  of  St  Jerome  Emilian,  the  Fathers  of  Christian 
Doctrine  of  Caesar  de  Bus,  the  Piarists  or  Fathers  of  Pious 
Schools  of  St  Joseph  Calasanza,  the  Ursulines  of  St  Angela 
Merici  of  Brescia,  the  Fathers  of  a  Good  Death  of  St  Camillus 
de  Lellis,  the  Clerks  of  the  Mother  of  God  of  Blessed  John 
Leonardi.2 

The  founders  of  these  congregations,  with  very  few  excep- 
tions, have  left  no  spiritual  writings.3    They  were  animated 

management  of  schools.  St.  Charles  Borromeo  greatly  loved  them.  St 
Antony  Zaccaria  died  at  Cremona  in  1539.  A  collection  of  Detti  notabili 
of  St  Antony  Zaccaria  was  published  at  Venice  in  1583.  French  trans- 
lations with  the  titles  (Euvres  spirituelles,  Paris,  1600,  and  Les  hautes 
maximes  de  la  vie  spirituelle,  Lyons,  1625.  Latin  translation  Axiomata 
sacra  .  .  .,  Rome,  1671.  Cf.  Premoli,  Storia  dei  Barnabiti  nel  Cinque- 
cento,  Rome,  1913 ;  Le  Lettre  et  lo  spirito  religioso  di  S  Anton. 
M.  Zaccaria,  Rome,  1909. 

1  Born  at  Venice  in  1481,  he  was  converted  after  a  wild  youth.  Being 
greatly  touched  at  the  sight  of  the  numerous  orphans  after  the  war,  he 
gathered  them  together  in  Venice.  At  Somasco,  near  Bergamo,  he 
founded  his  congregation,  devoted  to  the  education  of  orphans  and  to 
the  instruction  of  youth.  Jerome  died  in  1537.  His  Life  has  been 
written  by  Fr.  Augustine  Turtura  [Acta  Sanctorum,  February  8). 

2  It  is  desirable  to  mention  the  reform  of  the  Franciscan  Order 
brought  about  in  1525  by  Matthew  de  Baschi,  who  made  his  religious 
wear  a  beard  and  a  pointed  hood  (capuche),  whence  the  name  Capu- 
chins. The  Rule  of  St  Francis  was  literally  restored  and  followed.  In 
1619  the  Capuchins  formed  a  distinct  branch  of  the  Franciscan  Order. 
One  of  the  first  saints  of  the  new  Capuchin  foundation  was  the  lay 
brother,  St  Felix  of  Cantalice  (1-1587),  the  friend  of  St  Philip  Neri. 
Cf.  Capecelatro,  Life  of  St  Philip,  Vol.  II,  pp.  318  ff.  St  Francis  of 
Paula,  born  at  Paula  in  Calabria  in  1416,  founded  the  Order  of  Minims. 
It  was  he  who  assisted  Louis  XI,  King  of  France,  at  his  death.  See 
his  Life,  by  Fr.   Hilarion  Coste. 

3  Although  he  did  not  compose  writings  on  spirituality  properly 
so-called — the  Recordi  al  popolo,  published  during  the  plague  of  Milan, 
is  not  so — St  Charles  Borromeo  has  left  very  important  documents  on 
the  reform  of  the  clergy  and  faithful  in  his  diocese  of  Milan.  They 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Acta  Ecclesiae  Mediolanensis,  Mgr.  Ratti's 
(Pius  XI)  edition,  Milan,  1890  ff.,  and  in  the  Documenti  circa  la  Vita 
et  le  geste  di  San  Carlo  Borromeo,  published  by  A.   Sola,  Milan,  1857- 


£be  Italian  Scbool  239 

by  the  spirit  of  the  first  Clerks  Regular,  especially  that  of 
the  Theatines  and  of  the  Barnabites.  St  Cajetan  of  Tiene, 
more  largely  than  others,  engendered  this  spirit.  A  lively 
zeal  for  poverty,  great  inward  mortification  in  order  to  attain 
to  a  joyous  calm  of  soul,  an  intense  and  disinterested  love 
of  God  and  one's  neighbour,  such  was  the  pervading  spirit 
of  this  magnificent  movement  towards  Catholic  reform  by  its 
first  beginners  in  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  the 
teaching  of  that  admirable  book,  the  Spiritual  Combat,  which 
produced  the  asceticism  of  the  Italian  Clerks  Regular. 

II— THE  "  SPIRITUAL  COMBAT  " 

The  authorship  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  is  not  definitely  estab- 
lished. 

This  book  was  sometimes  published  under  the  name  of  the 
Spanish  Benedictine,  John  of  Castagniza.1  Several  writers 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  have  attributed  it  to  the  Jesuit 
Achille  Gagliardi.2  There  are  doubtless  traces  in  the  work 
of  Spanish  asceticism  and  Ignatian  spirituality.3  But  the 
imprint  of  the  Italian  School  is  so  evident  that  it  is  impossible 
to  place  the  author  of  the  famous  work  elsewhere  than  among 
the  Clerks  Regular,  especially  among  the  Theatines.  We 
know  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  greater  number  of  critics4 
this  author  was  the  Theatine  Laurence  Scupoli. 

1861.  See  also  the  various  biographies  of  St  Charles.  St  Philip  Neri 
was  accustomed  to  give  those  whom  he  directed  spiritual  Maxims  or 
Sentences.  They  were  brought  together  after  his  death.  The  collection 
was  published  at  Turin  under  the  title  Ricordi  e  Dette  di  sari 
Filippo  Neri.  The  Sentences  are  arranged  according  to  the  number 
of  days  in  the  year,  one  sentence  for  each  day.  The  Abbe  A.  Bayle 
gave  a  translation  in  his  Vie  de  saint  Philippe  de  Niri,  Paris,  1859, 
pp.  398  ff.  Cardinal  Capecelatro  has  inserted  in  his  Vie  de  saint 
Philippe  certain  Letters  of  the  saint  (Vol.  I,  pp.  540  ff.  of  the  French 
translation  of  Fr.  H.  B6zin).  The  members  of  the  Oratory  of  St  Philip 
Neri  take  no  vows.  In  this  they  are  distinguished  from  other  Clerks 
Regular.  In  the  same  way  the  Oblates  of  St  Charles  are  a  society  of 
secular  priests  to  which  was  given  charge  of  ordinands  and  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Seminary  at  Milan. 

1  Especially  by  the  printer  Berthier,  at  Paris  in  1675,  in  a  volume 
which  also  contains  the  Treatise  on  the  Peace  of  the  Soul  or  The  Path 
of  Paradise  of  John  of  Bonilla,  the  Spanish  Franciscan,  and  the 
Meditations  on  the  Sorrows  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  Blessed 
Battista  Varani,  Italian  Franciscan,  written  about  1490. 

-  Sommervogel,  Bibl.  des  Ecrivains  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus, 
Vol.  Ill,   1095. 

3  Franciscan  influence  has  also  rightly  been  noted.  Ubald  d'Alencon, 
Etudes  franciscaines,  Vol.  XXVII  (1912),  pp.  72  ff. 

4  Cf.  Vezzosi,  Scrittori  teatini,  Vol.  II,  pp.  276  ff.  Discussion  on 
this  subject  will  also  be  found  in  the  various  editions  of  the  Spiritual 
Combat,  especially  in  those  of  Alexis  de  Buc,  Paris,  1696,  and  of 
A.  Riche,  Paris,  i860.  Scupoli  was  born  at  Otranto,  in  the  kingdom 
of  Naples,  in  1530;  he  died  at  Naples  in  1610. 


240  Cbrtetfan  Spirituality 

It  may  be  asked  with  regard  to  the  Spiritual  Combat  as 
with  the  Imitation,  if  it  is  not  rather  the  collective  work  of  a 
religious  family  than  that  of  one  single  writer.  The  Combati- 
mento  Spiritnale  was  not  produced  in  the  first  instance  as  we 
have  it.  The  first  edition,  which  appeared  in  1589  at  Venice, 
had  only  twenty-eight  chapters.  Subsequent  editions  then 
appeared  with  thirty-three,  thirty-seven,  forty,  and  finally 
sixty  chapters.  Certain  parts  of  it  seem  to  point  to  a  compila- 
tion rather  than  to  a  single  author.  The  chapters  often  lack 
logical  sequence.  And,  above  all,  the  style  of  the  later 
editions  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  earlier.  Much  of 
the  naive  grace  and  impressiveness  is  lost. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  is  found  the  idea 
of  Christian  perfection.  The  spiritual  life  "  does  not  consist 
in  external  practices." 

"  It  consists  in  nothing  else  but  the  knowledge  of  the  good- 
ness and  the  greatness  of  God,  and  of  our  nothingness  and 
inclination  to  evil ;  in  the  love  of  him  and  the  hatred  of  our- 
selves, in  subjection,  not  to  him  alone,  but  to  all  his  creatures 
for  love  of  him,  in  entire  renunciation  of  all  will  of  our  own 
and  absolute  resignation  to  all  his  divine  pleasure ;  further- 
more, in  willing  and  doing  all  this  purely  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  solely  to  please  him,  and  because  he  so  wills  and 
merits  thus  to  be  loved  and  served."1 

Christian  perfection  is  wholly  internal.  It  results  from  the 
combined  effect  of  the  virtues  which  cause  us  to  die  to  our- 
selves in  order  to  be  fully  subjected  to  God  through  love. 
Here  we  find  the  inward  mortification  which  the  school  of 
the  Clerks  Regular  pushed  so  far. 

Note  also  in  the  Spiritual  Combat  the  clear  insistence  on 
the  need  of  pure  love  in  those  who  wish  to  attain  to  per- 
fection. According  thereto  we  cannot  tend  towards  the  per- 
fect Christian  life  unless  we  serve  God  solely  for  his  glory 
and  "  with  a  view  to  pleasing  him."  Our  own  interest  ought 
never  to  count,  and  we  must  as  far  as  possible  exclude  it. 
There  are  motives  for  being  virtuous  which  are  good  in  them- 
selves, such  as  that  of  escaping  hell  and  reaching  heaven. 
Perfection  demands  that  we  act  unto  the  sole  glory  of  God.2 

1  Chap,  i  (French  translation,  Tournai,  Desclee,  1894).  French 
translations  are  numerous. 

2  Chap.  i.  Cf.  chap,  x  :  "  The  most  insignificant  action,  done  with 
a  view  to  please  God  alone,  and  for  his  sole  glory,  is  (if  we  may  so 
speak)  of  infinitely  greater  value  than  many  others  of  the  greatest 
dignity  and  importance  done  without  this  motive.  Hence  a  single 
penny  given  to  a  poor  man  with  the  sole  desire  to  please  God  is  more 
acceptable  to  him  than  the  entire  renunciation  of  all  earthly  goods  for 
any  other  end,  even  for  the  attainment  of  the  bliss  of  heaven ;  an  end 
in  itself  not  only  good,  but  supremely  to  be  desired." 


Ube  -Kalian  Scbool  241 

St  Francis  de  Sales  is  very  careful  not  to  define  so  precisely 
the  nature  of  divine  love  required  for  perfection.  He  feared, 
not  without  reason,  to  discourage  beginners  in  the  Christian 
life.  We  also  know  that  St  Bernard  declared  the  impossibility 
of  that  state  of  pure  love  in  which  man  unceasingly  forgets 
himself  in  order  to  please  God  alone. 

"  The  summit  of  perfection  "  is  attained  by  the  fight 
against  self,  by  this  combat  so  much  spoken  of  by  the  Clerks 
Regular.  In  reading  the  Combatimento  we  seem  to  be  assist- 
ing at  a  course  on  spiritual  strategy.  We  there  learn  how  to 
struggle  victoriously  against  "  all  the  evil  affections  "  of  the 
heart,  however  slight  they  seem  to  us. 

Four  arms,  without  which  victory  is  impossible,  are  recom- 
mended to  us  :  Distrust  of  ourselves,  for  reduced  to  our  own 
strength  we  can  do  nothing ;  trust  in  God  with  whom  we  can 
do  all  things;  the  good  use  of  the  faculties  of  soul  and  body; 
finally,  the  exercise  of  prayer. 


It  is  above  all  in  reference  to  the  good  use  of  our  faculties 
that  the  spirituality  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  is  made  most 
manifest.  These  faculties  are  the  intelligence  or  understand- 
ing, the  will  and  the  outward  or  bodily  senses. 

The  intelligence  ought  to  be  on  its  guard  against  two 
enemies  by  which  it  is  unceasingly  attacked  :  ignorance  and 
curiosity  (vii-ix). 

But  it  is  in  the  exercise  of  the  will  that  the  struggle  is 
necessary  because  of  the  opposition  which  exists  between  the 
"  reasonable  and  higher  will  "  and  the  "  other  which  has  its 
seat  in  the  senses,  known  by  the  name  of  the  lower  and 
sensual  will,  and  more  commonly  under  the  names  of  appetite, 
sense,  or  passion."  "For  a  true  will,  the  assent  of  the 
superior  will"  is  needed.  Hence  ensues  a  combat  without 
truce  between  the  two  wills,  or  between  the  passions  and  the 
reasonable  will  (xii). 

It  is  not  expedient  to  attack  all  the  passions  at  once ; 
there  is  an  order  to  be  followed  in  the  struggle.  The 
"  passion  which  besets  us  "  and  "  tyrannizes  over  "  our  heart 
should  be  attacked  first  of  all  (xvii).  And  the  struggle  should 
be  undertaken  thus  (xiii). 

First  of  all  direct  resistance  to  the  insurgent  passion  : 

"  First,  whenever  thou  art  assailed  and  buffeted  by  the 
impulses  of  sense,  oppose  a  valiant  resistance  to  them,  so  that 
the  higher  will  may  not  consent  "  (xiii). 

This  first  victory  gained,  in  order  to  repress  the  passion 
"with  greater  vigour  and  force,"  it  is  good  to  provoke  a 
second  struggle.  In  this  way  the  habit  of  crushing  it  more 
completely  is  acquired,  and  hatred  and  horror  of  it  is  pro- 
duced. But  these  tactics  must  never  be  used  in  the  combat 
Hi.  16 


242  Cforistian  Spirituality 

against  carnal  passion,  which  can  only  be  overcome  by  flight 
"  with  the  greatest  care  from  every  occasion  and  every  person 
presenting  the  least  danger  "  to  us  (xix). 

Whilst  resisting  the  passions  and  provoking  renewed  com- 
bats we  must  cultivate  acts  of  those  virtues  that  are  opposed 
to  them. 

Finally  we  must  keep  watch  over  the  senses. 

"  The  sensitive  appetite  is,  so  to  speak,  the  captain  of  our 
corrupt  nature.  ...  It  makes  use  of  the  outward  senses, 
like  so  many  soldiers  and  natural  instruments,  in  order  to 
seize  what  it  desires"  and  misuse  it.  We  must  then  know 
how  to  govern  the  senses  if  we  desire  not  to  be  overcome 
in  the  battle  against  self. 

Before  all,  "  take  good  heed  not  to  let  thy  senses  stray 
freely  where  they  will ;  nor  to  use  them  when  pleasure  alone, 
and  not  utility,  necessity,  nor  any  good  end,  is  the  motive  " 
(xxi). 

But  as  the  senses  cannot  be  wholly  withdrawn  from  the 
outer  world,  let  us  direct  them  towards  God  and  employ  them 
in  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  realities.  The  beauties  of 
creation  are  able,  if  we  so  desire,  to  uplift  us  towards  the 
Creator.  The  author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  here  gives  some 
examples  of  the  spiritual  aspirations  which  the  sight  of  things 
created  may  suggest  to  the  devout.1  There,  as  well  as  in 
other  parts  of  his  work,  he  shows  himself  much  more  a 
theologian  and  philosopher  than  poet.  Then  he  writes  a  very 
beautiful  chapter  on  the  manner  of  passing  from  the  con- 
sideration of  the  outer  world  "  to  the  meditation  of  the  life 
and  passion  of  the  Word  incarnate  "  (xxii),  wherein  we  note 
the  Ignatian  method  of  prayer  by  the  application  of  the  five 
senses. 

The  voice  of  Ignatius,  too,  constantly  echoes  through  the 
clash  of  arms  in  the  Spiritual  Combat,  ordering  the  tactics 
and  planning  the  battle.  The  author  of  the  Combatimento 
only  adapts  and  then  passes  on  the  commands  of  his  chief. 
The  exhortation,  "  the  order  of  the  day,"  given  in  the  morn- 
ing before  the  beginning  of  the  daily  battle,  is  little  else  than 
a  paraphrase  of  the  meditation  on  the  Two  Standards  of  the 
Spiritual  Exercises. 

"  On  awaking  in  the  morning  the  first  thing  to  be  observed 
by  thine  inward  sight  is  the  listed  field  in  which  thou  art 
enclosed,  the  law  of  the  combat  being  that  he  who  fights  not 
must  there  lie  dead  for  ever.  .  .  .  On  the  right  hand,  behold 
thy  victorious  Captain  Jesus  Christ,  the  Virgin  Mary  and  her 
beloved  spouse  St  Joseph,  and  an  innumerable  host  of  angels 
and  saints  ...  on  the  left  hand,  the  demon,  with  all  his 
armies,  ready  to  excite  this  passion  and  to  persuade  thee  to 

1   Cf.  Augustine  Capece,  Theatine,  //  monte  di  Dio,  1645. 


XTbe  Italian  Scbool  243 

yield  to  it  "  (xvi).   ...     "  Then  think  you  hear  the  voice  of 
your  guardian  angel  "  strengthening-  your  courage. 

So  the  fight  begins  and  proceeds  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  already  given.  If  in  the  struggle  we  feel  wounded  and 
on  the  point  of  being  overcome  and  vanquished,  we  must 
never  allow  ourselves  to  yield  to  discouragement  or  give  up 
the  fight  (xiv,  xxvi).  We  should  then  pray  more  earnestly. 
But  it  is  essential,  if  victory  is  to  be  gained,  to  retain  a 
"good  morale."  So  also  does  the  Combatimento  urge  the 
soldier  of  Christ,  amidst  the  struggle,  to  keep  tranquillity  of 
soul  and  peace  of  heart  and  to  avoid  with  all  possible 
care  anything  that  might  disturb  them  (xxv).1 


"  If  distrust  of  self,  trust  in  God,  and  the  right  use  of 
our  faculties  be  so  needful  in  this  spiritual  conflict,  needful 
above  all  is  prayer  (the  fourth  weapon  above  mentioned)  " 
(xliv). 

The  last  part  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  maps  out  a  plan  for 
the  Christian's  life  of  prayer.  The  three  practices  specially 
commended  are  :  prayer  or  meditation,  communion,  and  ex- 
amination of  conscience.  The  influence  of  the  Spanish 
School  is  plainly  seen,  but  the  Italian  writer  simplifies  the 
exercises. 

He  recommends  two  forms  of  prayer  :  short  prayers — i.e., 
ejaculatory  prayers — which  should  be  used  often,  above  all 
in  the  midst  of  the  battle  ;  and  the  longer  form  of  prayer 
combined  with  meditation. 

The  first  is  "  a  raising  of  the  soul  to  God,  in  which  we 
ask  him  for  those  things  which  we  desire."  We  may  ask 
for  them  verbally  by  using  mental  words,  or  tacitly  by  show- 
ing our  needs  to  God  without  speech,  or  finally  by  "  a  simple 
look  of  the  soul  towards  God,"  which  is  a  tacit  reminder  of 
the  grace  already  asked  for  (xlv). 

To  the  already  mentioned  longer  form  of  prayer  lasting 
"  half  an  hour,  an  hour,  or  longer,"  must  be  "  added  medita- 
tion on  the  life  and  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ"  (xlvi-xlvii, 
li-lii).2  Our  Saviour's  Passion,  according  to  the  Spiritual 
Combat,  is  the  great  subject  for  meditation  : 

"Jesus  crucified — there  is  the  book  which  I  give  thee  to 
read,    that   from   it    thou    mayest   copy    the   true    picture    of 

1  The  Spiritual  Combat  describes  at  length  the  wiles  of  the  devil 
(xxvii,  xxxii,  xlii-xliii).  Cf.  the  Rules  of  St  Ignatius  on  the 
Discernment  of  Spirits.  Chapters  xxxiii-xli  contain  advice  in  detail 
as  to  the  way  to  acquire  and  make  progress  in  virtue  :  it  is  a  kind  of 
small  treatise  on  Christian  virtues. 

2  The  method  is  simple  without  any  preamble  as  is  found  in  the 
Ignatian  method;  but  with  considerations  on  the  subject  of  the  medita- 
tion, accompanied  by  acts  of  love. 


244  Cbrfstfan  Spirituality 

every  virtue.  For  it  is  the  real  book  of  life,  which  not  only 
instructs  the  understanding-  by  words,  but  enkindles  the  will 
by  its  living-  example  "  (lii). 

It  is  in  this  book  that  patterns  of  every  virtue  and  the 
most  urgent  motives  for  practising  them  must  be  sought. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Combatimento  draws  the  atten- 
tion of  the  devout  to  the  inward  and  "  mental  "  sufferings  of 
Christ  (li).  Meditation  on  the  thought  of  what  Jesus  suffered 
in  his  soul  was  very  much  in  favour  in  Italy  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  About  1490  the  Franciscan  nun,  Blessed  Battista 
Varani,  whom  we  shall  meet  again  later,  wrote  a  book  on  the 
sorrows  of  Christ's  soul  during  the  Passion  (Dolori  mentali  di 
Cristo).1  Her  work  was  known  to  Lorenzo  Scupoli.  St  Mary 
Magdalen  of  Pazzi  also  was  moved  to  pity  "  by  the  sorrow 
and  compassion  which  divided  the  heart  "  of  Jesus,  "  at  the 
sight  of  so  great  a  number  "  for  whom  his  precious  Blood 
"  must  be  shed  in  vain."  She  also  referred  "  to  the  dis- 
.  tress  of  love  and  compassion  (of  his  divine  heart)  for  all  the 
just,  for  all  the  pains  "  which  the  elect  would  have  to  suffer 
"  till  the  end  of  the  world."2 

It  is  also  good  to  meditate  on  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
for  whom  the  author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  has  a  very 
trustful  devotion  (xlviii-xlix).  He  desires  us  to  have 
daily  recourse  to  her.  We  should  also  take  as  our  "  chief 
advocate  and  protector,  St  Joseph,  Mary's  spouse."  Also, 
"  in  our  prayers,  we  may  make  use  of  the  help  and  protec- 
tion of  the  angels  and  saints  "  (l).3 

This  devotion  to  the  angels  is  characteristic  of  Italian 
spirituality.  Pierre  Lefevre,  that  disciple  of  St  Ignatius 
who  wrought  his  apostolic  ministry  for  some  time  in  Italy, 
greatly  loved  the  holy  angels.  In  a  letter — of  doubtful 
authenticity,  but  which  well  reflects  the  devout  thought  of 
the  time — St  Cajetan  explains  at  length  to  a  nun  the  nature 
and  being  of  the  angels  and  their  activities.4  St  Mary 
Magdalen  of  Pazzi  describes  the  love  of  the  angels  for  men. 
"  It  is,"  she  says,  "  an  intense  love  which  has  its  source  in 

1  See  the  Etudes  franciscaines,  Vol.  XVII,  1907,  p.  687,  on  Bl. 
Varani.  The  Dolori  mentali  di  Cristo  (Latin  version  Acta  Sand., 
May,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  488  ff.)  contains  meditations  on  the  Saviour's 
inward  sufferings  as  to  :  the  sins  of  the  damned,  the  sins  of  the  elect, 
the  sorrows  of  Mary,  the  love  of  Mary  Magdalen,  his  well-beloved 
disciples,  the  loss  of  Judas,  the  ingratitude  of  the  Jews  and  others. 
The  Combatimento  of  Rome,  1615,  contains  also  the  Sentiero  del  Para- 
diso  and  the  Dolori  ynentali  di  Cristo.  The  author  of  the  Spiritual 
Combat  must  have  been  inspired  by  the  Dolori  mentali.  Cf.  Etudes 
franciscaines,  Vol.  XXVII,  1912,  p.  76. 

2  CEuvres,  Part  I,  chap,  xiv,  Bruniaux,  Vol.  I,  pp.  164-165. 

3  The  Spiritual  Combat  often  speaks  of  the  guardian  angel  and  his 
role  in  the  struggle  waged  by  the  Christian  against  sin  (xvi). 

4  De  Maulde  la  Claviere,  Saint  Ga'etan,  pp.  198-201  ;  Salvadori, 
p.  103. 


Ube  Italian  Scbool  245 

the  heart  of  the  Word,   because  they  see  in   the  Word  the 
dignity  of  creatures  and  the  love  he  has  for  them.1  ..." 

Holy  Communion  is  the  most  effective  means  of  over- 
coming our  adversaries.  With  our  other  weapons  "  we 
struggle  against  our  enemies  through  the  virtue  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  with  this  we  battle  with  them  in  company  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  it  is  Jesus  Christ  who  fights  with  us 
against  them  "  (liii).  Moreover,  it  is  through  the  Eucharist 
that  our  hearts  are  inflamed  with  the  fire  of  divine  love 
(lv).  It  is  thus  needful  to  communicate,  whenever  we  have 
permission,  as  frequently  as  possible,  and  to  make  good 
preparation  (liv-lv). 

This  permission  at  that  time  was  not  granted  so  easily 
as  it  is  to-day.  So,  instead  of  the  wholly  desirable  daily  com- 
munion, the  Combatimento  recommends  communion  by  desire, 
which  is  possible  not  merely  every  day,  but  every  hour  (lvi). 
This  is  the  exercise  known  as  spiritual  communion.  It  arose 
at  a  time  when  communions  were  not  frequent  and  was 
intended  to  do  duty  for  daily  communion.  This  exercise 
loses  its  importance  as  the  custom  of  approaching  the  holy 
table  daily  becomes  more  and  more  general  among  those  of 
the  faithful  desirous  of  tending  towards  a  perfect  Christian 
life.2 

Such  are  the  main  points  of  the  spirituality  of  the  Com- 
batimento.2 

Although  the  work  is  not  a  complete  treatise  on  asceticism, 
it  is  surprising"  not  to  find  in  it  a  chapter  devoted  to  spiritual 
direction.  This  direction  is  very  often  assumed.  The 
author  of  the  Combat  recommends  talks  with  the  "  spiritual 
father  "  (xix).  We  also  know  that  the  first  founders  of  the 
Clerks  Regular,  St  Cajetan  and  St  Antony  Zaccaria,  were 
directed  by  Baptist  da  Crema.4  The  direction  given  to  his 
penitents  by  St  Philip  Neri  has  become  famous.5     None  the 

1  CEuvres,  Part  IV,  chap,  xxvii,  Vol.  II,  p.  342. 

2  Spiritual  communion  will  always  be  preserved  as  a  means  of  un- 
ceasingly producing  virtue  and  the  spirit  of  the  Saviour  within  us. 
It  is  a  kind  of  prayer. 

3  The  last  chapters — added  afterwards — do  not  follow  logically.  They 
contain  two  parts  of  Luis  of  Granada's  method  of  prayer  :  thanks- 
giving and  the  oblation  of  oneself  to  God  (lvii-lviii),  which  fit  in  with 
nothing  else ;  a  chapter  on  dryness  (fix),  and  another  on  examination 
of  conscience  (lx),  which  ought  to  be  placed  after  those  which  treat  of 
prayer.  Finally  the  treatise  ends  with  six  chapters  (lxi-lxvi)  on  the 
struggles  of  the  soul  at  the  hour  of  death. 

*  St  Jerome  Emilian  had  as  director  a  canon  of  the  Lateran  (Acta 
Sanct.,  February,  8,  p.  229).  Treatises  on  direction  were  written  in 
Italy,  especially  that  of  the  Friar  Minor  Conventual,  Trebatio  Macrotti 
della  Penna,  Discorsi  sfirituali  per  direzione  delle  anime,  Turin,  1590. 

3  St  Philip  had  as  penitents,  among  others,  St  Camillus  de  Lellis, 
Blessed  John  Leonardi,  and  Cardinal  Frederick  Borromeo,  cousin  of 
St  Charles. 


246  Cbrfstfau  Spirituality 

less,  direction  does  not  appear  as  yet  to  have  had  all  the 
importance  in  Italian  spirituality  which  it  was  to  possess 
later  on.  It  is  St  Francis  de  Sales  who  rendered  it  really 
popular. 


Ill— THE  MYSTICS  :  ST  MARY  MAGDALEN  DEI 
PAZZI  OF  THE  CARMELITE  ORDER,  ST 
CATHERINE  DE  RICCI  AND  BLESSED  OSANNA 
DE  ANDREASSI  OF  THE  ORDER  OF  ST 
DOMINIC,  BLESSED  BATTISTA  VARANI,  POOR 
CLARE  — FRANCISCAN  SPECULATIVE  MYS- 
TICISM 

The  wholly  Italian  spirituality  of  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei 
Pazzi1  has  the  reforming-  spirit.  Her  writings  embody  the 
tendencies  of  the  Italian  Catholic  reformers  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

Born  at  Florence,  April  2,  1566,  of  one  of  the  most  famous 
families  of  Tuscany,  she  employed  all  the  influence  of  her 
position  to  demand  the  reform  of  the  Church.  As  Carmelite, 
she  laboured  by  exhortation  and  by  her  writings  to  bring  the 
religious  of  both  sexes  to  a  more  regular  and  more  fervent 
life.  As  mystic,  she  felt  authorized  by  her  visions  and  reve- 
lations to  bring  home  the  lesson  to  the  clergy  and  to  urge 
them  to  a  better  life.  Her  mission  in  many  ways  resembles 
that  of  St  Catherine  of  Siena.  In  her  ecstasies  she  obtained 
teaching  from  the  Sienese  Virgin  concerning  the  virtues  of 
religious  life.2 

Her  vocation,  above  all,   was  to  pray  and  to  do  penance 

1  Catherine  de  Geri  dei  Pazzi  was  born  at  Florence  in  1566.  Her 
father  was  Governor  of  the  town  of  Cortona.  She  was  brought  up  in 
the  monastery  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St  John  the  Less.  She 
entered  the  Carmelites  of  St  Mary  of  the  Angels  at  Florence,  where 
she  made  her  profession,  May  27,  1584,  and  took  the  name  of  Mary 
Magdalen.  She  was  novice-mistress  from  1598  to  1604,  then  she  became 
sub-prioress.  She  died  at  Florence,  May  27,  1607.  Life  of  St  Mary 
Magdalen  de  Pazzi,  by  Vincenzo  Puccini,  confessor  to  the  Monastery 
of  St  Mary  of  the  Angels,  Venice,  1675,  Acta  Sand.,  May  25. — The 
Opere  di  Santa  Maria  M addalena  de  Pazzi  carmelita  di  S  Maria  di 
Firenze  were  collected  and  published  by  Lorenzo  Brancaccio,  Carmelite 
of  the  strict  observance,  Florence,  1609.  Another  edition  with  the 
saint's  Letters,  Florence,  1893.  An  abridged  French  translation  by  the 
Carthusian,  D.  Anselm  Bruniaux,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1873.  The  Works 
of  the  saint  are  divided  into  five  parts.  The  first  contains  contempla- 
tions on  the  mysteries  of  faith  and  of  the  life  of  Christ,  the  second 
deals  with  religious  life  and  virtues,  the  third  comprises  uplifting 
thoughts  on  passages  from  Holy  Writ,  the  fourth  lofty  contemplations 
on  the  divine  perfections,  the  fifth  contains  Exclamations  similar  to 
those  of  St  Teresa. 

2  CEuvres,  Part  II,  chap,  x-xii ;  Bruniaux,  Vol.  I,  pp.  408  ff. 


Zhc  Italian  Scbool  247 

in  order  to  obtain  the  reform  "  of  all  states  of  the  Church  "  : 
religious,  priests,  the  faithful,  and  even  heretics  and  pagans  : 
"  I  desire  to  offer  thee,  O  my  God,"  she  exclaims,  "  all 
creatures  state  by  state,  and  I  shall  begin  with  the  virgins, 
thy  brides  who  are  so  dear  to  thee.  .  .  .  Thou  hast  chosen 
all  religious  women,  but  they  are  not  all  acceptable  because 
they  fail  to  perform  all  those  duties  for  which  thou  hast 
chosen  them.  ...  I  implore  thee,  O  my  God,  to  make  them 
know  their  obligations,  and  I  offer  thee  on  their  behalf  the 
Blood  thou  didst  shed  in  the  Garden  of  agony.   .   .   . 

"  And  what  must  I  say  of  thy  priests,  O  Word?  thou 
makest  me  to  see  a  multitude  of  them  who  .  .  .  trample 
under  foot  their  honour  by  making  themselves  the  slaves  of 
vile  and  despicable  creatures.  Those  eyes  which  see  thee 
descend  in  the  Eucharist  from  the  bosom  of  thine  Eternal 
Father,  allow  themselves  to  gaze  on  abominable  sights  and 
the  wretches  dare  approach  the  altar  in  this  dreadful  state. 
...  O  Word  !  I  shall  leave  thee  not  until  thou  dost  grant 
me  the  conversion  of  some  among  them.  .  .  .  Tell  me, 
I  beseech  thee,  what  I  must  do  to  obtain  it;  whatsoever  it 
be  I  shall  do  it  with  all  my  heart.   .   .   . 

"  I  offer  thee,  O  Word,  for  all  the  members  of  Holy 
Church  of  which  thou  art  the  head,  the  numberless  drops  of 
Blood  that  thou  didst  shed  from  all  thy  members  in  thy 
cruel  scourging.  ...  O  Word  divine  !  I  shall  only  be  con- 
tent when  I  see  myself  wholly  consumed  with  the  desire  to 
bring  back  to  thee  these  souls  astray.   .   .   . 

"  Would  that  I  had  the  strength  to  gather  all  [the  un- 
faithful], to  lead  them  into  the  bosom  of  thy  Church.  I 
should  pray  her  to  purge  them  from  their  unfaithfulness 
through  the  beneficent  breath  of  her  mouth,  to  give  them 
new  life.  .  .  .  But  alas  !  I  can  only  deplore  my  impotence 
and  my  ingratitude,  which  is  its  cause.   .   .   . 

"  I  now  offer  thee,  O  Word,  those  incarnate  devils — for 
thus  I  think  they  may  be  called  because  of  their  malice — I 
mean  all  heretics  and  all  sects,  such  as  they  are  known  to 
thee,  and  I  offer  thee  for  these  the  Blood  thou  didst  shed 
when  thou  wast  stripped  of  thy  garments  on  Calvary, 
because  these  wretches  make  every  effort  to  tear  thy  robe 
by  their  poisonous  deeds  and  words.   .   .   ."1 

It  is  in  flashes  of  fire  and  with  impassioned  accents  that 
she  pours  forth  her  prayer  to  God  for  the  salvation  of  sinners 
for  the  expiation  of  whose  sins  she  is  ready  "  to  sacrifice  her 
own  life  ' '  : 

"  O  my  God  !  How  can  this  wickedness  be  plucked  out 
from  the  hearts  of  men?     Oh,  that  I  were  found  worthy  to 

1  CEuvres,  Part  V,  2nd  Exclamation,  Vol.  II,  pp.  377  ff.  Cf.  Part 
IV,  chap,  xxi,  pp.  291  ff. 


248  Cbristtan  Spirituality 

give  my  life  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and  to  destroy  this 
evil,  how  happy  should  I  be  !  How  great  a  torment  it  is  to 
live  and  to  die  every  moment;  to  see  that  one  is  only  able  to 
be  of  use  to  creatures  by  giving  one's  life  and  yet  to  be  un- 
able to  do  it.  O  charity,  thou  art  a  file  which  little  by  little 
wears  away  both  body  and  soul.   .   .   . M1 

In  all  that  she  wrote  St  Mary  Magdalen  had  in  view  un- 
ceasingly this  reform  "of  all  states  of  the  Church."  She 
lived  only  to  bring  it  about. 

The  Works  of  the  great  Carmelite  nun  contain  not 
only  exclamations  and  prayers ;  deep  theological  teaching 
on  such  subjects  as  creation,  the  fall,  the  atonement,  and 
the  divinizing  of  man  through  Christ  the  Redeemer  are 
also  to  be  found  there.  As  in  the  Dialogue  of  St  Catherine 
of  Siena,  the  influence  of  Thomist  theology  is  to  be  seen.2 
Dogmatic  considerations  on  the  divine  Unity,  the  Trinity  of 
Persons,  the  Incarnation,  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  souls  are  frequent ;  very  often,  too,  as  in  the  writings  of 
the  Sienese  Virgin,  the  teaching  is  expounded  in  the  form 
of  a  dialogue  with  the  heavenly  Father,  or  the  Word,  or 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  Finally — and  this  completes  the  resem- 
blance between  the  two  saints — it  is  during  ecstasy  that 
St  Mary  Magdalen  expounds  her  teaching,  and  with  such 
rapidity  that  it  was  necessary  to  give  her  six  secretaries,  who 
wrote  for  hours,  and  even  for  whole  days,  under  her  dictation.  3 
She  had  also  read  the  Meditations  on  the  Life  of  Christ  of 
the  pseudo-Bonaventure  and  the  Life  of  Christ  by  Ludolph 
the  Carthusian.  We  find  once  more,  in  her  chapters  conse- 
crated to  the  Passion,  the  famous  scene  of  the  farewell 
between  Jesus  and  Mary  before  the  last  departure  for  Jeru- 
salem.4 But  the  colloquies  of  Jesus  with  Mary  are  not  so 
pathetic  as  in  the  work  of  the  holy  Franciscan.  They  con- 
tain above  all  theological  considerations  on  the  love  of 
Christ  for  men  and  the  benefits  which  his  death  ought  to 
procure  them. 

1  (Euvres,  Vol.  II,  pp.  295-296. 

3  She  distinguishes  between  the  two  appetites,  concupiscible  and 
irascible  (Vol.  I,  pp.  7-8) ;  and  gives  a  kind  of  treatise  on  the  theological 
and  cardinal  virtues  (pp.  10  ff.),  and  a  psychological  explanation  of 
the  Holy  Trinity  (pp.  58  ff.),  "  God  is  most  pure  act,"  p.  92,  etc. 

3  The  six  secretaries  thus  divided  their  duties  :  the  first  wrote,  as 
No.  1,  the  first  portion  of  the  saint's  discourse;  the  second  followed 
as  No.  2,  and  so  on  ;  after  this  the  first  became  No.  7,  the  second  No.  8, 
etc.,  and  they  continued  to  write  in  this  way  until  the  end.  After  the 
ecstasy  one  of  them  transcribed  the  whole,  following  the  numerical 
order,  and  by  order  of  the  Mother  Prioress,  the  saint  heard  it  read 
through,  approved  what  was  correct,  and  altered  anything  inaccurate. 
Life  of  St  Magdalen,  by  Father  Virgilio  Cepari,  one  of  her  confessors. 
Bruniaux,  (Euvres,  Vol.  I,  pp.  xiv-xv.  It  is  difficult  for  a  work  com- 
posed in  this  way  not  to  suffer  certain  accidental  alterations. 

1  QLuvres,  Part  I,  chap,  xii,  Vol.  I,  pp.  136  ff. 


Qhe  Italian  Scbool  249 

St  Mary  Magdalen  yields  at  times  to  the  desire  to  supple- 
ment, through  her  revelations,  the  silence  of  the  evangelists 
on  certain  circumstances  of  the  life  of  the  Saviour.  She 
greatly  wished  in  particular  "  to  know  what  the  most  holy 
soul  of  Jesus  did  during  its  separation  from  his  body  "  until 
the  moment  of  the  resurrection.  In  a  long  dialogue  with 
the  Eternal  Father,  she  obtained  this  knowledge.  During 
one  of  her  ecstasies  she  also  witnessed  the  visit  made  by 
Jesus  to  the  "blessed  souls  in  Limbo."1 

The  famous  Carmelite  had  a  poetic  soul.  She  felt  strongly 
the  charm  of  the  beauties  of  nature.  Her  style  is  coloured 
with  the  marvellous  tints  of  Tuscan  scenery,  which  again 
adds  to  the  interest  possessed  by  her  Works.  Further,  her 
influence  increased  more  and  more.  After  her  death  she 
continued  through  her  writings  to  insure  that  Catholic  reform 
for  which  she  had  so  greatly  prayed  and  suffered.2 


The  Letters  which  St  Catherine  de  Ricci5  wrote  in  order 
to  procure  the  reform  of  the  Church — unlike  those  of  St  Mary 
Magdalen  dei  Pazzi — reached  those  to  whom  they  were 
addressed.  Among  these  were  cardinals,  bishops,  superiors 
of  religious  Orders,  and  princes.  They  were  impressed  by 
the  prudence  and  sanctity  of  their  illustrious  correspondent. 

In  these  heavenly  raptures  in  the  Dominican  convent  of 
Prato  in  Tuscany,  St  Catherine,  with  groanings,  recom- 
mended the  whole  Church  to  her  divine  Spouse  : 

"  Oh  !  how  many  are  the  Judases  in  the  Church,"  she  says 
to  him.  "  Oh  !  Oh  !  Oh  !  Here  I  must  be  silent.  Renew, 
renew,  O  Lord,  thy  Church.   ..." 

She  gave  courage  to  those  who  were  inflamed  with  the 
desire  to  renew  the  Church  :  "  I  pray  the  divine  Majesty," 
she  wrote  to  St  Philip  Neri,  "  to  restore  you  and  to  main- 

1  GLuvres,  Part  I,  chap,  xxi-xxv,  pp.  199  ff.  We  would  note  that, 
according  to  St  Mary  Magdalen,  the  visit  to  Limbo  only  took  place 
after  the  resurrection  (chap.  xxv). 

2  Note  here  three  Italian  Carmelites  :  Amanzo  di  Santa  Rosa,  Of  ere 
s-pirituali,  Naples,  1615-1619;  Dominic  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  General  of 
the  Carmelites,  Sententiario  sfirituale,  1620,  French  translation,  Paris, 
1623;  Eliseus  Vasallo,  //  cristiano  invitato  al  Paradiso  (the  three  ways), 
Naples,   1643. 

3  Alexandrina  de  Ricci  was  born  in  Florence  in  1522.  In  1535  she 
entered  the  Dominican  Convent  of  St  Vincent  of  Prato,  near  Florence. 
She  took  the  name  of  Catherine.  She  was  Prioress  of  her  convent  for 
a  long  time  and  died  in  1590.  Her  Letters  were  published  by  Cesare 
Guasti,  at  Prato,  in  1861,  with  an  excellent  introduction;  re-edited 
at  Florence,  in  1890,  by  Gherardi.  Her  Life  was  written  in  Italian 
by  Serafino  Razzi,  Lucca,  1594,  and  in  France  by  Fr.  Hyacinth 
Bayonne,  Paris,  1873.  The  Dominican  Order  was  also  made  famous  in 
Italy  by  the  foundress  of  the  Monastery  of  the  Cross  of  Florence, 
Dominica  dal  Paradiso  (1473-1553),  whose  life  was  written  in  Italian 
by  Ignatius  del  Nente,  O.P.,  Venice,  1624. 


250  Christian  Spirituality 

tain  you  in  good  health  because  Holy  Church  has  too  great 
need  of  you."1  Between  these  two  generous  souls  a  tender 
and  wholly  celestial  friendship  was  established  which  was 
shown  by  a  correspondence,  unfortunately  almost  totally 
lost.2 

St  Catherine's  mysticism  was  directed  wholly  towards  the 
reform  of  the  Church  and  is  characterized  by  its  holy  glad- 
ness. In  this  she  resembles  St  Philip,  "  who  was  the  most 
beautiful  type  of  Christian  gladness  that  the  Church  has 
ever  had."  The  historians  of  the  saint  relate  that  "  God 
changed  and  transformed  her  heart  in  a  most  happy  ecstasy, 
rendering  it  like  that  of  the  most  Blessed  Virgin.  Then  it 
was  that  Catherine  felt  herself  flooded  with  an  infinite  and 
unspeakable  gladness,  and  became  conscious  of  being  quite 
other  than  she  was  before."3  In  her  ecstasies  she  also  ex- 
perienced the  sufferings  endured  by  Christ  in  his  Passion. 
The  greater  number  of  the  mystical  phenomena  which  we 
admire  in  St  Catherine  of  Siena  were  reproduced  in  this 
other  daughter  of  St  Dominic  in  the  convent  of  Prato. 

The  same  change  of  heart  and  the  same  mystical  graces 
were  granted  to  another  famous  Dominican  nun,  Blessed 
Osanna  de  Andreassi,4  likewise  for  a  social  mission.  God 
inspired  her  to  become  a  tertiary  of  St  Dominic,  but  yet  to 
remain  in  the  world  "  for  the  salvation  and  consolation  of 
many."5  She  consecrated  her  life  to  prayer  and  penance  for 
the  conversion  of  sinners.  Like,  another  Genevieve,  she 
rallied  the  courage  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mantua4  during  the 
French  invasions  of  Italy. 

The  Italian  women  mystics  appear  to  be  of  much  the  same 
type  as  that  of  St  Catherine  of  Siena,  whose  life  was  every- 
where read  with  eagerness.6  We  find  renewed  the  mystical 
ring,  the  symbol  of  the  spiritual  espousals  with  Christ ;  the 
invisible  and  painful  stigmata ;  the  frequent  and  prolonged 
ecstasies  during  which  the  visions  and  revelations  occurred.7 

1  Cesare  Guasti,  Letter  LV11I . 

2  Cf.  Capecelatro,  Life  of  St  Philip  N eri,  Vol.  II,  pp.  372  ff. 

3  ibid.,  p.  377.     Cf.  Serafino  Razzi,  Vita  Cat.,  lib.  II,  6. 

1  Born  at  Mantua  in  1449  she  became  a  tertiary  of  St  Dominic 
though  remaining  in  the  world.  She  died  at  Mantua  in  1505.  Libello 
della  vita  sua  propria  e  de  doni  spirituali  da  Dio  a  lei  collati,  Mantua, 
1507,  reproduced  in  Latin  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  June  18,  following 
the  Lives  of  Silvester  Ferrara,  O.P.,  and  Jerome  of  Mantua,  Olivetan. 

6  Acta  Sanctorum,  June  18  (Vol.   IV,  p.  563,  Paris,   1867). 

6  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  and  Blessed  Osanna  saw  St  Catherine 
of  Siena  in  their  ecstasies  {Acta  S.S.,  June  18,  p.  574). 

7  For  Blessed  Osanna  see  Acta  Sanctorum,  ibid.,  and  for  St  Mary 
Magdalen  de  Pazzi,  Acta  Sanctorum,  May,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  219  ff.  CEuvres, 
Bruniaux,  Vol.  I,  p.  80.  See  also  the  Life  of  Blessed  Veronica  de 
Binasco,  Augustinian  of  the  fifteenth  century  (Acta  Sanctorum, 
January  13),  and  Matthew  Silvaggi  de  Catania,  O.M.,  De  nuftiis 
animae  cum  Chrislo,  Venice,  1542. 


ZTbe  Italian  Scbool  251 

Occasionally  the  ecstatics  give  some  mystical  teaching 
during-  their  raptures.  The  change  or  transforming  of  the 
heart  through  divine  love  is  a  phenomenon  often  found  in 
Italv.  We  meet  with  it  in  St  Cajetan,  and,  above  all,  in 
St  Philip  Neri. 


Blessed  Battista  Varani,  Poor  Clare,  Princess  of  Camerino 
in  Umbria,  also  had  her  heart  wholly  inflamed  with  pure 
love.1  Like  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi,  she  found  the 
source  of  this  love  in  the  heart  of  Jesus  suffering  for  us.2 
She  often  meditated  on  the  sorrows  of  the  divine  heart 
endured  during  the  Passion.  Her  meditations  have  come 
down  to  us  in  the  small  work  Dolori  mentali  di  Cristo, 
which  so  largely  contributed  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  to  inspire  the  faithful  with  devotion  to 
Christ  in  his  expiation  of  our  sins. 

Blessed  Battista  Varani  was  very  specially  drawn  by  the 
sorrows  of  the  soul  of  Christ  at  the  sight  of  sin.  She  her- 
self thought  so  often  of  her  own  sins,  and  the  many  com- 
mitted in  such  numbers  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance. 
She  was,  in  this  connection,  beset  by  a  horrible  temptation 
to  blasphemy  ;  to  wit,  that  God  was  the  author  of  evil.  This 
temptation  obsessed  her  to  such  a  degree  that  she  thought 
she  was  consenting  to  it  and  constantly  committing  acts 
of  blasphemy.  She  was  in  despair  and  believed  herself  to 
be  damned.  This  trial  lasted  for  three  years.3  St  Mary 
Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  also  passed  through  a  similar  trial  dur- 
ing which,  to  use  her  own  expression,  she  was  "  in  the  den 
of  lions."4 

The  Seraphic  Order  also  produced  works  of  speculative 
mysticism.  The  Italian  Franciscans  who  wrote  them,  accord- 
ing to  the  taste  for  Platonism  in  vogue  at  the  time,  delighted 
to  comment  on  Dionysius  the  Areopagite.  They  desired  to 
explain  the  union  of  the  mystical  soul  with  "  the  super- 
eminent  light,"  the  light  divine.  Their  explanations  were 
occasionally  disputed,  and  caused  the  intervention  of  ecclesi- 
astical  authority.5 

1  Born  in  1458,  at  Camerino,  Camilla  Varani,  after  her  "  conversion," 
entered  the  Convent  of  the  Poor  Clares  of  that  town.  She  died  about 
1526.  She  wrote  her  Life  for  her  director,  then  a  small  work,  the 
Interior  Sorrows  of  Christ,  and  some  Spiritual  Letters.  The  Latin 
translation  of  all  her  writings  is  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  May  31.  Her 
name  in  religion  became  Battista.  Her  Life  was  written  by  the  Com- 
tesse  de  Rambuteau,  Paris,  1906. 

2  She  often  speaks  of  the  heart  of  Jesus,  which  she  invokes  (Acta 
Sanctorum,  May,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  476,  478,  495,  Paris,  1866). 

3  Acta  Sanctorum,  May  31,  p.  484. 

4  Acta  S.S.,  May,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  194  ff.,  Paris,  1866. 
6  Here  are  the  names  of  several  of  the  Franciscan  writers  of  treatises 

on   mysticism   commenting   on   Dionysius   the   Areopagite  :    Antony   de 


252  Cbristian  Spfrttnatttg 

IV— BLESSED  ROBERT  BELLARMINE1— 

CLAUD    ACOUAVIVA 

Like  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  and  St  Catherine  de  Ricci, 
Blessed  Robert  Bellarmine  made  heard  "the  groanings  of 
a  dove" — that  is  to  say,  of  the  Church,  which  weeps  over 
sin,  the  sins  of  clergy  and  laity  and  the  laxity  of  religious. 

The  spiritual  writers  of  the  Renaissance  all  lament  the 
disorders  of  which  they  were  the  saddened  witnesses.  The 
spectacle  of  these  disorders  is  a  source  of  the  pious  tears 
shed  by  those  faithful  who  were  inflamed  with  the  desire  for 
the  reform  of  the  Church.  This  gift  of  tears  of  the  Italian 
School  is  well  known.  St  Cajetan2  and  St  Philip  Xeri  pos- 
sessed it  to  a  high  degree  : 

"  Pious  tears  flow  from  two  principal  sources,"  says  Car- 
dinal Bellarmine,  "  evil  and  good,  sadness  and  joy.  They 
are  bitter  or  sweet  according  to  whether  they  be  tears  of 
sorrow  or  tears  of  love.*'3 

M  .-.-.-.•;   corda,  Director:  '  zmmandae  mentis  in  abissum 

—.:   lu— :•::;.   Ejusdem   exfositic   super  librum  de  mystica  theologia, 
Bologna.    1522:   Jer:m  5  A::eti.   O.M.,  De  tr:  -.-ologia  symbolica, 

scholastica  ■::  mystica,  Cremona,  1582;  Angelo  del  Pas  of  Perpignan, 
O.M.,  Breve  trattato  del  conoscert  et  amar  Iddio,  Rome,  1596; 
Ignatius  of  Bergamo,  Franciscan,  Theologica  mistica,  Bergamo,  1599. 
Occasionally  the  commentators  of  D:  ■-;  -:  us  the  Areopagite  were  not 
fortunate.  The  De  unione  animae  cum  super:  inenti  lumine,  Perugia, 
: :  ;.  :f  Bartholomew  de  Castello,  O.M..  was  placed  on  the  Index, 
March  8,  1584.    II  faradiso  de  Conte-  .  Venice,  1622,  of  Saluzzo, 

is  appraised.     See  his  Of  ere,  Venice,   1639. 

1  Robert  Bellarmine  was  born  October  4,   1542,  at  Montepulciano  in 

the  ancient  Duchy  of  Tuscany.     In  1560  he  entered  the  Jesuits  in  Rome. 

where   he   studied   philosophy    =  :   the   Roman   College.      He   made   his 

th  studies      I   Padua.     Then  he  became  Professor  at  the  Uni- 

Louvain  (1569-157         .nd  afterwards  at  the  Roman  College 

::-':-•   ;  .     "here     he     wrote     his     famous     Controversies.       Created 

Cardinal  in  1599,  he  was  made  Archbishop  of  Capua,   1592-1604.     He 

laboured  for  the  reform  of  his  diocese.     On  his  return  to  Rome  he 

rote  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Pope.     He 

died  there    S      I   mbei    :;.    1621.     The    ascetic   treatises   of   Bellarmine 

were  written  I    rards   the  end  of  his  life,   from  1614.     They  are  here 

•  en  in  chronological  orir:  :   The  Ascent  of  the  Mind  tozcards  God 

Ladder   "   Cre  tiures;  The  Eternal  H:  rj  of  the  Saints  (a  pious 

treatise  on  heaven) :  the  Groaning  of  the  Dove,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
Church,  on  thr  sins  of  the  clergy  and  layfolk,  on  the  laxity  of  the 
religion:,  etc  ;  The  Set  rds  of  <n  '-.  the   Zross',  The  Art  of 

H:  ing.     Cf.   Of  era   omnia   Roberti  Bellarmini,   published  by  J. 

Fevre.   Par:;  -       :;-_l.    Vol.   VIII,   pp.   239-620;   Raitz   v.    Frentz. 

Les  CEuvres  ascetiaues  du  B*.  Br  in  the  Revue  d' ' asceiiaue  et  de 

■  ■:,  Julv.  10.23,  PP-  243  ^->  January,  192:1,  pp.  60  ff. 
1  Acta  S.S',  VII ."August,  p.  263. 

*  T  *  .- -  ^:bae  sive  de  bono  lacrymarum,  lib.  I,  cap.  i, 
Vol.  VIII.  p.  .1-:  .'.iter  the  Cardinal's  death,  certain  religious,  think- 
ing that  they  were  aimed  at,  protested.  Thence  sprang  a  war  of 
pamphlets.     Cf.  J.  Thermes,  Le  B.  Bellarmin,  Paris,  1923,  p.   17 


Ube  -Kalian  Scbool  253 

For  divine  love  makes  us  shed  tears,  but  tears  of  joy. 
The  pious  Cardinal  treats  at  length  the  cause  of  these  sweet 
tears  and  their  beneficial  effects  on  the  spiritual  life. 

He  wrote  his  ascetic  treatises  towards  the  end  of  his  life, 
using-  the  method  propounded  in  his  famous  Controversies. 
He  defines,  he  divides,  he  cites  abundant  texts  from  Scripture 
and  from  ecclesiastical  writers.  The  affective  note  is  rare, 
and  this  is  to  be  regretted.  It  is,  however,  to  be  found  in 
the  Ascent  of  the  Mind  towards  God,  which  is  the  most 
beautiful  of  Bellarmine's  spiritual  works,  wherein  his 
optimistic  piety,  overflowing  with  divine  love,  is  best  made 
manifest. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  the  author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat 
recommends  the  pious  soul  to  be  raised  from  the  considera- 
tion of  created  beings  to  God  who  has  given  them  motion, 
life,  and  beauty.  The  Italian  School  delights  in  this  method 
of  prayer.  Bellarmine  teaches  us  to  look  at  creation  as  an 
immense  ladder — a  staircase,  as  St  Francis  de  Sales  trans- 
lates it — wherewith  to  mount  towards  God.  Fifteen  steps, 
each  represented  by  a  group  of  creatures,  must  be  climbed. 
The  first  is  man  himself,  who  in  himself  is  a  small  universe 
(mundus  minor).  Then  the  great  universe  (major  mundus)1 
and  all  the  elements  which  compose  it  :  the  earth,  water,  air 
and  fire,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars.  Then  the  spiritual 
world,  the  reasoning  soul,  and  the  angels.  Finally,  God, 
his  essence,  his  omnipotence,  his  wisdom,  his  providence, 
his  mercy,  and  his  justice,  which  the  immensity,  the  order, 
and  the  power  of  nature  make  manifest.  A  magniloquent 
panorama  of  all  the  ways  which  lead  to  God.  We  can 
understand  Bellarmine's  predilection  for  this  treatise  :  "  My 
other  works,"  he  said,  "  I  have  re-read  only  from  necessity, 
but  this  one  I  have  read  three  or  four  times,  and  I  have 
resolved  to  read  it  again  frequently."2 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  meditated  more  often  on 
heaven.  The  collection  of  his  meditations,  made  in  writing, 
form  a  booklet  On  the  Eternal  Happiness  of  the  Saints,  a 
work  of  theology  as  much  as  of  piety.  Bellarmine  answers 
most  of  the  questions  that  can  be  put  regarding  the  blessed 
and  the  happiness  which  they  enjoy.  Finally,  in  order  to 
prepare  himself  immediately  for  death,  he  wrote,  in  1620,  his 
last  work  on  the  Art  of  Holy  Dying,  which  recalls  the  well- 
known  work  by  Gerson  on  the  same  subject. 

The  work  of  a  theologian  even  more  than  a  mystic,  the 
ascetic  treatises  of  Bellarmine  were  nevertheless  much  appre- 
ciated. "  They  delighted  St  Francis  de  Sales."  And  for  us 
they  are  one  of  the  best  sources  of  Italian  spirituality. 

1  De  ascensione  mentis  in  Deum  per  scalas  rerum  creatarum,  gradus 
secundus,  CEuvres,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  246. 

2  J.  Thermes,  p.  174. 


254  Cbristian  Spirituality 

The  contemporary  of  Bellarmine,  Claud  Acquaviva,1  General 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  brought  peace  to  the  controversy 
relative  to  the  predominance  of  asceticism  over  mysticism, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  troubled  the  Spanish  Jesuits. 
Greatly  versed  in  spiritual  theology,  the  author  of  several 
ascetic  works,  gifted  with  great  prudence,  he  recommended 
his  religious  to  follow  the  methods  of  prayer  of  the  Spiritual 
Exercises,  but  not  to  trouble  those  among  them  whom  God 
might  raise  to  the  mystical  state.2 

1  He  was  born  in  1543,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  In  1581  he 
became  General  of  the  Jesuits.  He  died  in  1615.  His  ascetic  works 
are  :  Certain  Letters  on  various  subjects  of  spirituality,  some  Medita- 
tions on  Psalms  xliv  and  xciii,  an  Oratio  de  Passione  Domini.  His 
best  known  work,  Industria  ad  curandos  animos,  has  been  translated 
into  French  under  the  title  Manuel  des  superieurs,  Paris,  1776. 

2  We  would  also  mention:  Antony  Cordeses,  S.J.,  Itineraria  della 
perfettione  Christiana,  Florence,  1607,  Latin  translation,  Messina, 
1626;  Virgilio  Cepari,  S.J.,  Exercitio  della  presenza  di  Dio,  Milan, 
1627;  Thomas  Massucci,  S.J.,  De  caelesti  conversatione  per  internam 
orationem  et  exercitia  spiritus,  Rome,  1622;  J.  B.  Rossi,  S.J.,  Opuscula 
spiritualia,  Rome,  1642;  James  Callesi,  S.J.,  Vita  del  Servo  di  Dio 
Fadre  Giulio  Mancinelli  (1537-161S),  Rome,  1668. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ITALIAN  SCHOOL  :   ITS  TEACHING 

THOSE  who  laboured  in  the  sixteenth  century  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Church  in  Italy  very  rightly 
had  in  view  the  bringing  about  of  this  restoration 
through  the  clergy.  They  strove  first  of  all  to 
give  them  a  high  ideal  of  their  dignity  and  mis- 
sion. They  then  urged  them,  as  they  did  the  laity,  to  inward 
combat  against  self,  sustained  by  an  optimistic  piety  and  an 
ardent  love  of  God  and  one's  neighbour. 

This    programme    of    moral    reform    sums    up    all    Italian 
spirituality. 


I— THE  CLERGY— THEIR  DIGNITY  AND  MISSION 

We  know  how  earnestly  the  reform  of  the  clergy  in  the 
sixteenth  century  was  desired.  The  disciplinary  decrees  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  are  the  best  proof  of  this.  Nearly 
everywhere  God  raised  up  apostles  vowed  to  effect  the  sanc- 
tification  of  the  priesthood.  In  Spain,  Blessed  John  of  Avila 
had  formed  the  design  of  renewing  the  clergy  through  his 
preaching.  He  has  left  us  two  discourses  on  the  excellence 
of  the  priesthood  and  the  sanctity  required  of  it ;  a  feeble 
echo  of  the  eloquent  exhortations  which  he  addressed  to  the 
clergy  of  his  time. 

In  Italy,  especially  among  the  Franciscans,  we  find  cogent 
teaching  as  to  the  excellence  of  the  sacerdotal  dignity.  We 
may  recall  the  earnest  respect  of  St  Francis  of  Assisi  for 
priests  on  account  of  the  character  bestowed  on  them  and 
his  insistent  recommendations  to  the  religious  of  his  Order 
on  the  subject. 

St  Bernardine  of  Siena,  the  great  Franciscan  preacher  of 
Renaissance  Italy,  knew  also  how  to  inspire  the  faithful  with 
a  great  "  veneration  "  for  the  divers  orders  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical hierarchy.  The  clergy  are  entitled  to  very  great  respect, 
above  all,  the  priests,  on  account  of  the  divine  powers  which 
raise  them  above  all  created  beings.  In  an  eloquent  sermon 
— perhaps  more  eloquent  than  strictly  theological — St  Ber- 
nardine shows  that  the  powers  of  the  priest  are  greater  than 
those  of  the  devil,  the  angels,  the  archangels,  and  even  the 
Virgin  Mary,  however  astonishing  this  may  appear  : 

255 


256  Cbrtstfan  Spirituality 

"  O  Virgin  full  of  love  and  blessing,"  he  exclaims  with 
touching  emotion,  "  forgive  me  for  placing  above  thee  the 
power  of  the  priest.  I  do  not,  however,  say  anything  against 
thee,  when  I  speak  the  truth  which  thy  Son  declared  him- 
self to  be.  He  himself  placed  the  priesthood  above  thee  in  the 
temple  where  thou  didst  present  him,  as  has  already  been 
explained."1 

These  thoughts  were  later  on  to  be  very  often  made  use 
of  as  a  theme  of  exhortations  on  the  priesthood. 

"  I  presume  to  hold  in  my  hands,"  wrote  St  Cajetan  to 
Laura  Mignani,  a  nun,  "  and  to  offer  as  a  propitiatory  victim 
to  his  Father,  even  him  from  whom  the  day-star  receives  its 
light  and  who  gives  being  to  the  whole  universe.  Ah  !  what 
a  miracle  of  charity  is  this  that  God  has  separated  me  from 
the  rest  of  the  faithful,  to  raise  me  to  the  rank  of  his 
minister  !" 

This  divine  election,  as  he  well  understands,  calls  for 
great  sanctity.  How  can  such  a  ministry  be  worthily  ful- 
filled without  eminent  virtues? 

"  But  alas  !"  he  continues,  "  how  does  this  choice,  so  little 
merited,  render  me  deserving  of  compassion  !  I  must  choose 
between  these  two  things  :  either  to  cease  to  offer  the  holy 
Victim  in  consideration  of  my  unworthiness ;  in  a  word,  to 
pass  my  days  in  deep  humility,  or  else  to  fulfil  my  ministry 
before  the  Lord  in  a  humble  spirit,  as  a  sacred  trust,  as  a 
faithful  dispenser  of  the  abundant  treasure  of  his  graces."3 

The  sense  of  his  misery  did  not  turn  St  Cajetan  from  the 
daily  celebration  of  the  holy  Sacrifice.  He  prepared  himself 
therefor  with  care,  and  occasionally  by  several  hours  of 
meditation.  His  eucharistic  zeal  caused  him  to  exhort  those 
priests  who  celebrated  Mass  badly  or  rarely3  to  follow  a 
better  way. 

St  Philip  Neri  also  counselled  those  priests  whom  he 
directed  to  celebrate  holy  Mass  every  day,  when  no  legitimate 
reason  prevented  them.  He  himself  celebrated  every  morn- 
ing,  and  with  what  devotion  !     "  Whilst  each  priest  makes 

1  Sermo  XX  ;  Quanta  veneratione  honorari  debent  ecclesiastici 
gradus,  art.  II,  cap.  vii  :  Quanto  quoque  superat  [sacerdotis  potestas] 
potestatem  Virginis  gloriosae  et  omnium  creatorum.  Virgo  amorosa 
et  benedicta,  excusa  me  afud  te,  quia  non  alloquor  contra  te,  cum 
veritatem,  quam  dixit  se  esse  Filius  tuus,  fatear  coram  te,  et  sacer- 
dotium,  sicut  supra  dictum  est,  in  templo  ipse  praetulit  supra  te.  In 
quatuor  excedit  sacerdotis  potestas  Virginis  potestatem.  Primo  in 
breviiate,  secundo  in  majoritate,  tertia  in  immortalitate,  quarto  in 
replicabilitate.  Sancti  Bernardini  Senensis,  O.M .  Opera  omnia,  Lyons, 
1650,  Vol.  I,  p.  99,  Joachim  de  la  Haye,  ed. 

2  Lettres  de  St  Gaetan,  de  Maulde  la  Claviere,  pp.  182-183;  Salva- 
dori,  San  Gaetano,  pp.  49-50.  Similar  thoughts  on  the  sanctity  of  the 
priesthood  are  found  in  the  writings  of  St  Laurence  Justinian,  Bellar- 
mine,  and  other  holy  persons  of  the  time. 

3  Ada  Sanctorum,  August  7,  p.  267,  Paris,  1867. 


3t3  TEcacbimj  257 

great  efforts  for  the  mind  to  be  recollected  in  God  before 
celebrating-,  Philip  was  obliged  to  make  great  efforts  to  dis- 
tract his  mind  from  God.  Without  this  he  would  have 
lacked  the  necessary  attention  to  the  outward  acts  of  the 
holy  Sacrifice,  and,  instead  of  saying  Mass,  he  would  have 
passed  long  hours  absorbed  in  God."1  In  spite  of  these 
precautions,  he  was  often  rapt  in  ecstasy  while  he  celebrated. 

Christ  is  the  true  model  whom  the  priest  should  strive  to 
imitate.  St  Cajetan  bewailed  the  fact  that  "  neither  inwardly 
nor  outwardly  "  did  he  resemble  Jesus  Christ.  He  asked 
the  Reverend  Mother  Laura  Mignani  "  to  obtain  for  him  to 
be  very  conformable  to  the  divine  Master."2  This  resem- 
blance to  Christ  the  High  Priest,  so  much  preached  by  the 
reformers  of  the  clergy,  St  Philip  Neri  strove  to  reach  : 
'  From  the  first  day,  when  he  was  clothed  with  the  sacred 
ministry,  he  always  had  his  eye  on  Christ  the  High  Priest, 
and  he  became  one  with  him  in  such  a  way  that  his  work 
was  in  substance  the  work  of  Christ,  wrought  by  means 
of  him.  In  the  sacerdotal  life  of  Philip,  he  was  like 
the  branch  united  to  the  vine,  and  that  vine  was  Jesus 
Christ."3 

"  Alas  !  to-day  there  is  no  one  like  Christ,"  said  St  Cajetan 
sadly.4  How  ardently  must  he  and  the  holy  priests  of  his 
time  have  preached  sacerdotal  virtue  !  so  well  did  they  under- 
stand how  needful  it  was  ! 


When  a  clerk  has  been  convinced  of  the  dignity  of  his 
state  and  of  the  obligation  which  binds  him  to  avoid,  in  his 
own  life,  the  faults  which  he  is  charged  to  correct  in  others, 
a  programme  of  perfection  must  be  set  before  him.  This 
programme  must  not  be  too  severe,  so  that  it  may  be  within 
the  compass  of  all.  It  was  the  secular  clergy  that  needed 
reform,  by  being  shown  the  true  sacerdotal  life  by  example. 
The  Clerks  Regular  would  not  have  been  able  fittingly  to 
undertake  this  reform  were  they  submitted  to  an  austere 
monastic  rule,  good  for  the  cloister  but  unsuitable  to  priests 
exercising  their  ministry  outside. 

The  founders  of  the  Clerks  Regular  understood  this  well. 
They  themselves,  nevertheless,  practised  austerities.  St 
Cajetan,  the  first  Barnabites,5  St  Charles  Borromeo,  to  cite 

1  Card.  Capecelatro,  Vie  de  saint  Philippe  de  Neri,  translated  by 
Bezin,  Vol.  I,  p.  251.  The  writer  adds  :  "  The  thing  appeared  most 
strange,  and  I  should  hardly  have  believed  it  if  I  had  not  seen  it  so 
often  affirmed  in  the  process  of  canonization  of  Philip  by  witnesses 
most  worthy  of  trust." 

2  De  Maulde,  p.   194;  Salvadori,  p.  70. 

3  Capecelatro,  Vol.   I,  p.  250. 

4  De  Maulde;   Salvadori,  ibid. 

6   Premoli,  Storia  dei  Barn.,  p.  473. 

III.  17 


258  Christian  Spirituality 

only  these,  made  themselves  remarkable  by  their  heroic 
penance.  But  what  they  urged  on  their  disciples  was 
spiritual   mortification,   inward  self-denial.1 

Thus  the  absolute  poverty  of  the  mendicant  Orders  was 
not  imposed  on  them.  They  were  required  to  have  the  spirit 
of  poverty,  which  renounces  what  is  superfluous,  which  learns, 
if  needful,  to  be  content  with  little,  and,  above  all,  to  avoid 
covetousness,  a  vice  that  was  fairly  frequent  among  the 
clergy  of  the  Renaissance.  With  regard  to  this  poverty  of 
mind  and  heart,  they  knew,  as  did  St  Charles  Borromeo, 
when  he  became  Cardinal,  how  to  give  the  example  of  a 
return  to  evangelical  simplicity.  St  Francis  de  Sales  later 
on  desired  his  Visitation  Nuns  "  to  have  their  feet  well 
shod,  but  the  heart  discalced  and  naked  of  all  earthly 
affection ;  to  have  the  head  well  covered  and  the  mind  well 
uncovered  by  perfect  simplicity  and  the  stripping  of  self- 
will."2  The  influence  of  St  Philip  Neri,  who  proposed  to 
himself  "  to  inspire  and  to  promote,  throughout  the  whole 
Church,  poverty  of  heart  and  mind,"  is  here  seen.3  And  St 
Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi,  who  reflects  the  spiritual  teaching 
of  her  time  so  faithfully,  said,  in  connection  with  the  spirit 
of  ownership  among  religious  : 

"  The  salvation  of  a  religious  who  has  everything  in  abun- 
dance may  be  looked  upon  as  certain,  provided  that  this 
abundance  comes  to  him  from  his  superiors,  and  that  he 
does  not  desire  something  more.  On  the  contrary,  there  is 
no  hope  of  salvation  for  the  one  who,  though  ill-nourished 
and  ill-clothed,  cries  for  possession  by  desire,  and  who  strives 
to  stifle  remorse  of  conscience  by  this  outward  appearance 
of  poverty.  If  he  do  not  promptly  strip  himself  of  all  he 
possesses  in  affection,  he  hopes  for  heaven  in  vain;  it  is 
not  for  him."4 

The  clergy  ought  to  be  unselfish,  pure,  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  religion  ;  qualities  which  were  often  lacking  in  them 
at  that  time.  Bellarmine  relates  that  on  one  occasion  he 
received  hospitality  at  the  palace  of  a  rich  prelate,  who  be- 
longed to   the  nobility.      Everything  was   luxurious,    apart- 

1  This  spirituality  is  beautifully  expressed  in  the  treatises  Of  Inward 
Self-denial,  Of  Christian  Perfection,  Cremona,  1585,  by  a  nun  of  Milan 
whose  name  is  unknown.  These  treatises  were  published  at  Cologne 
in  1642,  under  the  name  of  Achille  Gagliardi,  Jesuit. 

*  QLuvres  de  Saint  Francois  de  Sales,  Lyon-Annecy,  Vol.  XIV, 
p.  232. 

*  Capecelatro,  Vol.  I,  p.  100.  The  importance  of  spiritual  mortifica- 
tion is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  St  Philip  Neri's  spirituality,  Vol.  I, 
chap.  xi. 

*  OZuvres,  French  translation,  Bruniaux,  Vol.  I,  p.  394.  St  Cajetan 
did  not  at  once  attain  to  the  true  definition  of  poverty  for  the  Clerks 
Regular.  He  himself  practised  absolute  outward  poverty  [Acta  Sanc- 
torum, August  7,  p.  261).    It  was  the  same  with  the  Barnabites,  Premoli, 

P-  75- 


3ts  Ueacbino  259 

ments,  plates  and  dishes,  the  table.  Early  next  morning-  the 
cardinal  betook  himself  to  the  church  attached  to  the  palace 
in  order  to  celebrate  there  the  holy  mysteries.  But  how  great 
was  his  surprise  to  find  it  completely  bare  and  repulsively 
dirty.  He  dared  not  say  Mass  there. l  We  can  imagine  the 
sadness  of  the  pious  cardinal,  who,  like  St  Charles,  "could 
find  nothing  beautiful  enough  or  rich  enough  for  the  house 
of  God."  St  Cajetan,  St  Philip  Neri,  and  all  the  founders 
of  the  Clerks  Regular,  loved  the  beauties  of  worship  and 
devoted  themselves  to  the  artistic  decoration  of  their 
churches.2  In  this  way  were  the  faithful  edified,  God 
glorified,  and  ministers  at  the  altar  inspired  with  the  spirit 
of  religion.3 

II— THE    WAR    AGAINST    SELF 

The  condition  needed  for  the  production  of  this  inward 
spirituality  is  the  struggle  against  self.  The  means  recom- 
mended to  both  clergy  and  faithful  was  that  of  the  Spiritual 
Combat  and  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius,  for  the 
Italian  School  is  stamped  with  the  impress  of  Ignatian 
spirituality.1  To  die  to  self  is  to  become  virtuous.  It  is 
also  to  glorify  God. 

"  I  am  well  aware,"  said  St  Cajetan,  "  that  the  greatest 
glory  of  God  consists  in  perfect  submission  and  in  generous 
dying  to  self."5 

1  De  gemitu  columbae,  lib.   II,  cap.  v,  (Euvrcs,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  435- 

436- 

2  As  regards  the  Barnabites,  see  Premoli,  Storia,  pp.  188,  327  ff. 

3  The  famous  picture  of  the  true  clerk,  made,  in  1562,  by  the  Council 
of  Trent  (Sess.  XXII,  De  reformatione,  cap.  i),  well  corresponds  with 
the  ideal  of  the  Clerks  Regular  at  this  epoch  :  Nihil  est  quod  alios 
magis  ad  pietatem  et  Dei  cultum  assidue  instruat,  quam  eorum  vita  et 
exemplum  qui  se  divino  minis terio  dedicaverunt :  cum  enim  a  rebus 
saeculi  in  altiorem  sublati  locum  conspiciuntur,  in  eos  tanquam  in 
speculum,  reliqui  oculos  conjiciunt,  ex  Usque  sumuni  quod  imitentur . 
Quapropter  sic  decet  omnino  clericos  in  sortem  Domini  vocatos,  vitam 
moresque  suos  omnes  componere,  ut  habitu,  gestu,  incessu,  sermone 
aliisque  omnibus  rebus  nil  nisi  grave,  moderatum  ac  religione  plenum 
prae  se  ferant,  levia  etiam  delicto,  quae  in  ipsis  maxima  essent, 
effugiant,  ut  eorum  actiones  cunctis  offerant  venerationem. 

*■  The  Theatines  and  Barnabites  began  before  the  coming  of  St 
Ignatius  into  Italy  (1537).  The  Jesuits  were  first  of  all  called  Theatines, 
because  of  their  resemblance  to  the  religious  of  St  Cajetan.  St  Teresa 
sometimes  gives  them  this  name  [Letters,  Vol.  I,  pp.  7,  154,  437,  etc., 
ed.  Gregory  of  St  Joseph).  The  Spiritual  Exercises  were  not  slow  in 
becoming  famous  in  Italy.  St  Charles  had  drawn  up  a  practical  com- 
mentary on  them.  The  people  said  of  the  Bishop  of  Milan  :  "  The 
Jesuits,  added  to  his  natural  gifts,  have  caused  him  to  adopt  the  life 
he  leads  "  (De  Hurner,  Sixte-Quint,  Vol.  I,  p.  65).  In  her  ecstasies, 
St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  heard  St  Ignatius,  who  gave  her  instruc- 
tions respecting  humility  (CEuvres,  II,  chap.  xiv).  Cf.  Tacchi  Venturi, 
Storia  della  Compagnia  di  Gesit  in  Italia,  Rome,  1910. 
6  De  Maulde,  p.  51. 


260  Cbristian  Spirituality 

We  are  struck  by  the  prominent  place  given  to  the  struggle 
against  self-love  in  Italian  spirituality.  An  exaggerated  love 
of  self  is  quite  rightly  considered  as  the  meeting-place  of  all 
the  passions.  Our  will,  according  to  the  Spiritual  Combat, 
is  "infected  and  ruined  by  self-love."1  In  the  Dialogues  of 
St  Catherine  of  Genoa,  the  worst  role  is  played  by  self-love. 
St  Mary  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  sees  in  this  the  most  mortal 
enemy  of  divine  charity.  These  are  in  direct  conflict  at  every 
moment.2 

To  draw  the  greater  attention  of  the  faithful  to  this  in- 
ward battle,  spiritual  writers  dramatized  it.  The  Dialogues 
of  St  Catherine  of  Genoa  help  us  to  assist  at  the  struggle 
waged  by  the  mind  and  soul  against  the  body  and  self- 
love,  which  are  finally  overcome.  St  Mary  Magdalen  dei 
Pazzi  is  filled  with  admiration  for  the  charity  which  arms  for 
the  battle  against  self-love,  "  clothed  in  an  armour  which 
so  perfectly  protects  all  its  members  that  the  blows  appear 
to  it  like  puffs  of  wind  and  the  wounds  like  the  bite  of  an 
insect."3  She  was  greatly  stirred  by  a  combat  between 
humility  and  vainglory. 

"  I  see,"  she  said,  "  vainglory  filled  with  boasting,  and 
humility  on  the  contrary  calm  and  peaceful.  ...  I  desire 
to  pause  here  in  order  to  witness  the  battle ;  I  feel  that  they 
are  about  to  slay  one  another.  Vainglory  is  well  armed,  but 
humility  is  no  less  so,  and  its  arms  are  better  sharpened. 
Vainglory  tries  to  give  its  blows  on  the  head ;  humility 
strikes  from  beneath.  She  will  certainly  have  the  advantage. 
She  has  already  given  her  enemy  a  blow  which  has  laid  him 
at  her  feet.  Beware,  thou  brave  humility,  vainglory  is  not 
yet  dead.  I  desire  to  see  the  end  of  this  battle,  for  I  do  not 
yet  find  perfect  humility  within  me."4 

Tranquillity  of  soul  and  inward  peace  were  strongly  urged 
on  the  fighters.  Trouble  and  care  produce  discouragement. 
Moreover  God  brings  about  great  things  in  a  soul  that  is  at 
peace. 

"  Keep  therefore,"  says  the  author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat, 
"  a  sentinel  always  on  the  watch,  who,  as  soon  as  he  discerns 
the  approach  of  anything  likely  to  disquiet  or  disturb  thee, 
may  give  thee  a  signal  to  take  up  thy  weapons  of  defence. 
.  .  .  So  may  the  untoward  accident  do  us  much  good, 
if  we  keep  our  souls  in  peace  and  tranquillity ;  otherwise 
all  our  exercises  will  produce  little  or  no  fruit."5 

St  Philip  Neri  also  counselled  holy  joy  and  gaiety  to  those 
whom  he  directed.  St  Magdalen  of  Pazzi,  too,  desired  her 
religious  to  be  joyful  and  contented.6    The  enjoyment  of  this 

1   Chap.  xliv.  *  CEuvres,  I,  p.  421  ;  II,  p.  297. 

3  ibid.,  Part  II,  chap,  xii,  Bruniaux,  I,  p.  421. 

«  ibid.,  chap,  x,  p.  408.  6  Spiritual  Combat,  chap.  xxv. 

6  CEuvres,  Part  II,  chap,   vii,  Vol.   I,  p.   387. 


3ts  zreacbfnc)  261 

tranquillity  of  soul  was  the  dream  of  the  Christian  humanists 
of  Italy.  The  brief  of  Pope  Clement  VII,  June  24,  1524, 
instituting-  the  Order  of  Theatines,  declares  that  the  first 
founders  are  brought  together  with  the  desire  to  serve  God 
"with  most  perfect  tranquillity  of  soul."1  Blessed  Robert 
Bellarmine,  in  his  autobiography,  stated  that  it  was  on  re- 
flecting "  very  seriously  one  day  on  the  means  of  arriving  at 
true  peace  of  soul  "  that  he  resolved  to  enter  the  Society 
of  Jesus.2 

Tendencies  such  as  these  account  for  the  success  which  the 
Treatise  on  the  Peace  of  the  Soul,  by  the  Spanish  Franciscan, 
John  of  Bonilla,  obtained  in  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  This  inward  peace  was  truly  the  Path 
to  Paradise  (Sentiero  del  Paradiso).3 


Ill— OPTIMISTIC  PIETY  OF  THE  ITALIAN 

SCHOOL 

It  is  optimistic  not  only  in  insisting  on  the  beauties  of  religion 
and  on  the  consoling  aspects  of  Christian  mysteries,  but  also 
in  its  kindly  feeling  and  sympathy  for  human  nature.  Strict 
as  are  the  Italian  writers  in  order  to  assure  success  in  the 
fight  against  self,4  they  are  equally  indulgent  in  regard  to 
other  spiritual  exercises. 

Thus  they  counsel  frequent  communion,  under  conditions 
which,  owing  to  the  almost  total  neglect  of  the  sacraments 
throughout  Europe,  were  difficult  at  this  period.  St  Cajetan 
was  among  the  first  to  urge  the  faithful  to  the  daily  recep- 
tion of  the  Eucharist.  He  was  inspired  above  all  by  their 
need  of  it  to  counter  the  paganism  of  the  Renaissance.5  St 
Philip  Neri,  as  all  know,  had  made  the  frequenting  of  the 
sacraments  of  penance  and  the  Eucharist  one  of  the  great 

1  This  brief  was  drawn  up  by  Cardinal  Sadolet.  F.  Mourret,  Hist, 
gen.  de  PEglise,  Vol.  V,  p.  53c;. 

2  Joseph  Thermes,  Le  B*  Robert  Bellarmin,  Paris,  1923,  p.   11. 

3  This  Treatise  on  the  Peace  of  the  Soul  must  have  inspired  the 
author  of  the  Spiritual  Combat  {Etudes  franciscaines,  Vol.  XXVII, 
1912,  pp.  76  ff.).  It  is  added  to  several  editions  of  the  Spiritual  Com- 
bat. Italian,  as  well  as  French,  editions  call  it  the  Path  to  Paradise. 
The  Trinitarian,  St  Michael  of  the  Saints  (1591-1635),  also  published  a 
Breve  tratato  de  la  tranquillitad  deW  almo  (published  with  other  small 
works  at  Rome,  1915).  In  Italy,  Ignatius  del  Nente,  O.P.,  published 
an  analogous  treatise,  Delia  tranquillita  delVanimo  nel  lume  della 
natura,  della  fede,  della  Sapienza,  e  del  divino  Amore,  Florence,   1642. 

4  For  example  St  Philip  Neri,  who  was  kindness  itself,  in  order  to 
conquer  the  self-love  of  his  famous  disciple,  the  great  Baronius  (fi6o7), 
the  immortal  author  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Annals,  obliged  him  to  act 
as  cook  to  the  Community  of  the  Oratory  for  some  time,  and  inflicted 
other  humiliations  on  him.     Capecelatro,  Vol.  II,  p.   125. 

5  Acta  Sand.,  August  27,  p.  67.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Theatines  were  the  first  to  react  against  the  desertion  of  the  holy  table. 


262  Christian  Spirituality 

means  of  propagating-  devotion  in  the  city  of  Rome.  Before 
him  in  1540,  Blessed  Pierre  Le  Fevre,  one  of  the  first  com- 
panions of  St  Ignatius,  exhorted  to  weekly  confession  and 
communion  at  Parma.1  St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  advised  fre- 
quent communion  even  for  those  whose  dispositions  left  a 
little  to  be  desired. 

For  if  in  the  ordinary  way,  she  said,  we  find  God  "  inclined 
towards  us,  as  we  are  towards  him,  yet  very  often  his  mercy 
closes  his  eyes  to  our  lack  of  preparation,  his  goodness  pre- 
vails over  our  neglect,  and  he  gives  us  consolation,  even  when 
our  imperfect  dispositions  render  us  unworthy  to  receive  that 
plenitude  of  grace  which  this  heavenly  nourishment  brings."  2 

The  sympathy  of  Italian  spirituality  for  poor  human  nature 
is  also  shown  by  simplicity  of  method  in  prayer. 

The  temperament  of  the  Renaissance  Italians  was  ill-dis- 
posed to  what  was  intricate  or  restrictive  :  it  needed  air  and 
space.  Any  hindrance  of  its  movements  was  unbearable. 
Doubtless  the  spiritual  combat  requires  force  :  it  is  impossible 
to  overcome  without  doing  violence  to  self.  Yet  in  exercises 
of  piety  the  soul  should  move  at  its  ease  so  as  to  approach 
God  without  being  compelled  by  a  kind  of  pious,  and  possibly 
hampering,  etiquette.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  not  find 
that  so  much  importance  was  attached  to  mechanical  methods 
of  prayer  and  examination  of  conscience  in  Italy  as  in  Spain, 
the  Low  Countries,  or  in  France.3  The  methods  counselled 
in  the  Spiritual  Combat*1  are  as  simple  as  possible,  and  yet 
we  may  assume  that  they  came  from  Spain  through  John 
of  Castagniza  or  through  St  Ignatius.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  St  Philip  Neri,  who  was  so  exacting  as  to  spiritual 
mortification,  insisted  much  more  on  Christian  gladness — one 
of  the  chief  notes  of  his  asceticism5 — than  on  the  explanation 
of  divers  methods  of  mental  prayer.    Nevertheless,  like  all  the 

1  Cf.  Recherches  de  Science  religieuse,  March-April,  1910,  p.  174. 
St  Jerome  Emilian,  after  his  conversion,  communicated  every  week. 
Acta  S.S.,  February  8,  p.  229. 

2  GEuvres,  Part  I,  chap,  ix,  Vol.  I,  p.   102. 

8  There  are,  however,  exceptions  owing  to  the  influence  of  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius.  Thus  St  Charles  Borromeo  followed 
the  Ignatian  methods  of  prayer  and  had  them  followed  by  those  around 
him.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Italian  writings  on  methodical  prayer 
are  incomparably  fewer  than  the  Spanish.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
the  most  noteworthy  are  those  of  Serafino  da  Fermo  and  the  Sfecchio 
di  orazione,  Parma,  1537  (French  translation,  Paris,  1601),  of  Berna- 
dino  of  Balbano,  O.M.  An  anonymous  Franciscan  work,  Trattato 
della  meditatione  e  stati  delta  santa  contemflatione,  Rome,  1654. 
Pratica  delVOratione  mentale,  Venice,  1592,  of  Bellintani  Matthia, 
Capuchin. 

4  Chap,    xlvi-xlviii,  lx. 

5  Cardinal  Capecelatro  characterizes  thus  the  ascetic  school  of  St 
Philip  :  the  charitable,  mortified,  gladsome,  and  simple  school.  Life, 
Vol.  I,  p.  518. 


3ts  XTcacblng  263 

saints,  and  notably  St  Charles  Borromeo,1  he  was  insistent 
on  advocating-  prayer. 

He  knew  how  to  teach  it  and  had  a  method,  but  one  that 
was  very  simple.  As  regards  his  religious,  "  he  gave  pre- 
ference to  prayer  in  common  rather  than  to  psalmody  in 
common,  because  his  wish  was  to  unite  his  priests  and  layfolk 
together  in  prayer."2 

"  In  order  to  learn  to  pray,"  he  said,  "  an  excellent  means 
is  to  realize  that  we  are  unworthy  of  it.  True  preparation 
for  prayer  consists  in  the  practice  of  mortification.  To  wish 
to  give  ourselves  to  prayer  without  mortifying  ourselves  is  to 
be  like  a  bird  which  desires  to  fly  before  it  has  feathers." 

To  one  of  his  penitents  who  begged  him  to  teach  him  how 
to  pray  he  answered  :  "  Be  humble  and  obedient  and  then  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  teach  thee  how  to  pray."3 

In  prayer  he  counselled  the  faithful  to  follow  the  impulse 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  a  book  were  used,  the  reading  of  it 
should  cease  as  soon  as  some  pious  emotion  was  felt  within. 
In  a  state  of  dryness  and  aridity  we  should  behave  as  beggars 
before  the  good  God.     Above  all,  we  should  not  cease  to  pray. 

"  Prayer,"  he  said,  "  is  in  the  supernatural  order  what 
speech  is  in  the  natural.  A  man  who  does  not  pray  is  like 
an  animal  who  does  not  speak.  There  is  nothing  that  the 
devil  fears  more  than  prayer,  and  what  he  seeks  for  most  is 
to  destroy  this  spirit  of  prayer  in  souls."4 

St  Philip  Neri  "  made  himself  the  master  of  a  mild,  sweet, 
tender,  compassionate  asceticism.  Throughout  his  life  hardly 
two  or  three  instances  of  moderate  severity  are  to  be  met 
with  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  an  infinite  sweetness  of  charity 
towards  one's  neighbour  is  seen  at  every  step.  ..."  "  I  do 
not  desire  confessors,"  he  said,  "  to  make  the  path  of  virtue 
too  hard,  above  all  for  recent  converts.  I  do  not  wish  them 
to  be  galled  by  harsh  reproaches.  Dismayed  by  fear  and  by 
the  difficulties  of  the  new  way,  they  might  turn  back.  .  .  . 
Let  us  act  otherwise  :  by  compassion,  gentleness,  and  love  let 
us  strive  to  win  them  for  Jesus  Christ ;  let  us  sympathize  with 
their  weakness  as  much  as  we  are  able,  so  that  our  whole 
effort  may  be  to  inflame  them  with  the  love  of  God,  who 
alone  works  great  things."  Thus  did  St  Philip  and  his 
school  speak. 6 

1  St  Charles,  we  know,  decreed  that  at  Milan  the  ordinands  at  their 
examinations  should  be  specially  asked  if  they  used  mental  prayer  and 
the  subjects  of  their  meditations. 

2  Capecelatro,  Vol.  II,  p.  203.  s  id.,  p.  521. 

4  Bayle,  p.  247.  St  Philip  Neri  trained  men  in  the  world  to  prayer, 
as  did  St  Francis  de  Sales. 

6  Capecelatro,  I,  pp.  483,  485.  Leopold  Ranke,  the  historian,  char- 
acterizes St  Philip  Neri  in  the  same  way  :  "  He  was  good,  of  playful 
humour,  strict  as  regards  things  essential,  indulgent  in  those  which 
were  only  accessory ;   he  never   commanded,  but  restricted  himself  to 


264  Cbrfstian  Spirituality 

Such  also,  speaking  generally,  was  the  Italian  School.1 
"  You  must  be  kind  and  friendly  towards  your  daughters," 
St  Angela  Merici  counselled  the  Ursulines,  "  that  they  may 
be  humble,  kindly,  models  of  charity  and  patience  in  every 
word  and  act"  .  .  .  and  the  Mothers  in  charge  of  the 
sisters  :  "  I  recommend  you  most  insistently  to  seek  ever  to 
draw  and  rule  the  sisters  by  love,  with  a  soft  and  gentle  hand, 
without  pride  and  harshness.  In  every  circumstance  be  kind 
to  them."2 


IV— DIVINE    LOVE   IN   THE   ITALIAN  SCHOOL 

The  teaching  of  divine  love  holds  a  large  place  in  the 
spiritual  writings  of  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century,  which 
knew  the  Oratorio  del  divino  Amore. 

Divine  love  wrought  marvels  in  the  soul  of  St  Cajetan, 
one  of  the  founders  of  this  society.  "  To  speak  to  him  of 
divine  love  floods  him  with  joy  and  throws  him  into  ecstasy. 
His  delights  are  made  manifest  by  abundance  of  tears.  He 
loved,  then  he  wept.  .  .  .  This  '  holy  madness  '  transformed 
him;  it  produced  in  him,  even  physically,  an  incredible  power 
of  resistance.  ...  '  When  one  loves  God,'  he  exclaims,  '  all 
is  easy  !'  And  he  marches  on  mad  with  love  .  .  .  the  flame 
which  fires  him  expands  his  breast  and  distresses  him.  But 
it  seemed  impossible  not  to  love  him,  because  of  his  lofty 
flights  and  his  fire,  which  wonderfully  fed  the  energy  of  his 
soul.  His  word  was  on  fire.  .  .  .  He  burnt  with  love."3 
In  his  Letters  to  Laura  Mignani,  he  frequently  asks  his  pious 
correspondent  to  pray  to  God  that  his  soul  might  become  "  a 
flaming  brasier. "  This  passage  in  the  Dialogues  attributed 
to  St  Catherine  of  Genoa,  he  interprets  thus  :  "  He  who  could 
well  express  what  is  felt  by  a  heart  burning  with  the  love  of 

giving  counsel,  beseeching,  so  to  speak,  those  who  were  expecting  to 
receive  his  orders ;  he  did  not  teach  but  conversed,  possessing  as  he 
did  the  needful  discernment  to  distinguish  the  special  bent  of  each 
mind.  His  Oratory  increased  through  the  visits  paid  him,  and  by 
the  attachment  of  some  younger  men  who  regarded  themselves  as  his 
pupils  and  desired  to  live  with  him ;  the  most  famous  among  these  was 
the  Church  annalist,  Caesar  Baronius."  Histoire  de  la  Pafaute  pendant 
les  XV/e  et  XVIIe  siecles,  French  translation,  Haiber,  Paris.  1838, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  337-338.  One  of  the  Maxims  of  St  Philip  was  :  "  Do  you 
wish  to  be  obeyed?     Then  command  little."     Bayle,  p.   191. 

1  A  somewhat  more  severe  tone,  however,  is  to  be  noted  in  St  Charles 
Borromeo. 

2  Ste  Angele  Merici  et  VOrdre  des  Ursulines,  Paris,  1922,  I,  pp.  413- 
421. 

3  De  Maulde,  pp.   35-36,  which   sums  up  the  text  of  the  Acta  San- 
ctorum, August  7,  pp.  263  ff. 


3ts  Ueacbincj  265 

God  would  make  all  other  hearts  melt  or  break,  even  though 
they  were  harder  than  the  diamond  and  more  stubborn  than 
the  devil."1 

In  the  catacombs  of  St  Sebastian,  where  he  often  went  to 
pray,  St  Philip  Neri,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  1544,  was  so 
violently  overwhelmed  by  the  fire  of  divine  love  that  "  his 
heart  leapt  .  .  .  needed  to  dilate  and  to  have  more  room  " 
and  miraculously  bent  two  of  his  ribs.2  This  is  the  famous 
mystical  phenomenon  of  the  wonderful  dilation  of  his  heart. 

St  Aloysius  Gonzaga  (f  1591)  was  also  one  of  the  most 
pure  victims  of  divine  love.  After  his  death  he  appeared  to 
St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  and  to  other  mystics  in  order  to 
exhort  them  to  let  themselves  be  consumed  by  the  flames  of 
divine  charity.3 

St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  herself  was  rapt  in  God  whenever 
the  word  love  was  mentioned  in  her  presence.4 

But  still  more  interesting  than  these  wonders  is  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Italian  mystics  of  this  period  on  the  love  of  God. 
It  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  Dialogues  attributed  to  St 
Catherine  of  Genoa.  These  Dialogues  must  have  been  written 
by  Battista  Vernazza,  daughter  of  Ettore  Vernazza,  the 
disciple  of  St  Catherine  of  Genoa,  who  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Oratorio  del  divino  Amore.  Composed  about 
1548,  they  reflect  the  great  Genoese  mystic's  thoughts  on 
divine  love.5 

They  are  a  kind  of  mystical  history  of  the  converted  soul 
which  is  freed  from  passion  and  becomes  purified  in  the  flames 
of  divine  love,  attaining  the  closest  and  most  extraordinary 
union  with  God.6  Several  holy  persons  belonging  to  six- 
teenth-century Italy,  such  as  St  Jerome  Emilian  and  St 
Camillus  de  Lellis,  are  here  to  be  recognized. 

All  the  marvels  of  grace  described  in  the  Dialogues  are  the 
effects  of  pure  love,  the  pure  love  so  much  enlarged  on  by 
St  Catherine  of  Genoa,  Baptist  da  Crema,  and  many  others 
at  this  time;  but  later  on  it  brought  F^nelon  and  Bossuet  into 
conflict. 

1  Dialogues,  Part  II,  chap,  iv,  de  Bussiere's  translation,  Paris,  1914, 
p.  284. 

2  Capecelatro,  Vol.  I,  pp.  185  ff. 

3  Acta  Sand.,  May  25. 

i  CEuvres,  Bruniaux,  Vol.  I,  p.  xiii. 

6  Ettore  Vernazza  and  Cattaneo  Marabotto,  the  confessor  of  St 
Catherine,  edited,  about  1530,  the  Life  of  the  saint  and  her  Treatise  on 
Purgatory,  in  her  own  words.  About  1548,  Battista  Vernazza  composed 
the  Dialogues  which  were  added  to  the  Life  and  the  Treatise  on 
Purgatory  in  1551.  At  this  period  the  Works  of  St  Catherine  of  Genoa 
were  determined.     F.  von  Hiigel,  The  Mystical  Element,  Vol.  I. 

6  The  dialogues  take  place  between  the  Soul,  the  Body,  Self-love, 
the  Spirit,  the  Natural  Man  or  Humanity  and  Christ.  Usually  the 
subject  of  the  dialogues  is  Pure  Love. 


266  Cbristian  Spirituality 

Pure  love  is,  first  of  all,  that  disinterested  love  with  which 
we  are  loved  by  God. 

"  Know,"  says  the  Lord  to  the  soul  in  the  Dialogues, 
"  that  I  am  God,  unchangeable,  and  that  I  loved  man  before 
creating-  him  with  an  infinite  and  pure  and  simple  love,  with- 
out any  cause  :  I  cannot  but  love  what  I  have  created  and 
destined,  each  in  its  degree,  to  contribute  to  my  glory.1  .  .  . 
My  love  is  pure,  simple,  and  free,  and  I  cannot  but  love  with 
such  love  as  this."2 

This  pure  love  is  next  that  purifying  love  which  destroys 
evil  passions  and  even  the  smallest  imperfections  in  the  con- 
verted soul. 

"  A  ray  of  love  was  shed  in  his  heart,  and  this  ray  was  so 
ardent  and  penetrating,  and  pierced  him  inwardly  through  so 
completely,  that  it  took  away  all  loves,  appetites,  delights, 
and  belongings  that  he  ever  had  or  could  have  in  this  world. 
His  soul  remained  thus  deprived  of  all  things  ...  it  held 
human  nature  of  no  more  account  than  if  it  had  never  had 
part  therein  ;  it  esteemed  neither  the  flesh  nor  the  world  nor 
the  evil  spirit."3 

The  fire  of  pure  love  next  consumes  our  imperfections,  how- 
ever small  they  be.  It  makes  the  soul  pass  through  "  a 
purgatory  "  which  purifies  the  least  stains  and  submits  it  to 
a  "long  martyrdom."  "The  grindstone  of  divine  love" 
crushes  all  that  is  not  itself.4 

Pure  love,  again,  makes  men  renounce  all  consolation,  no 
matter  what,  either  corporal  or  spiritual.  The  "  spiritual 
tastes"  are  as  dangerous  as  the  "corporal  tastes,"  if  not 
more  so.     In  the  Dialogues,  the  Spirit  says  to  Humanity  : 

"  As  for  me,  I  aspire  only  to  pure  and  naked  love  which 
cannot  be  attached  to  anything  which  flatters  the  taste  or  the 
spiritual  or  corporal  senses  ;  and  I  declare  to  thee  that  I  fear 
much  more  attachment  to  the  spiritual  sense  than  the 
corporal.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  the  spiritual  entangles 
man  under  the  appearance  of  good,  without  his  being  able — 
unless  with  the  greatest  difficulty — to  be  made  to  under- 
stand that  it  is  quite  other  than  good ;  and  thus  the  creature 
delights  in  that  which  proceeds  from  God.  But  I  say  to 
thee    in    truth,    that    he   who    desires    God    alone    ought    of 

1  Dialogues,  Part  III,  chap,  i,  Vicomte  de  Bussiere's  translation, 
Paris,  1914,  p.  306. 

2  id.,  Part  II,  chap,  v,  p.  285.  The  same  thought  is  found  in  the 
Spiritual  Combat,  chap.  lv. 

3  Dialogues,  Part  I,  chap,  xii,  pp.  246-247.  See  also  in  the  CEuvres 
(Part  II,  chap,  xiii)  of  St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  the  combat  between 
Divine  Love  and  Sensual  Love. 

4  id.,  pp.  250,  278,  284,  294,  298,  302,  324,  328,  etc. 


3ts  XTeacbino  267 

necessity  to  avoid  these  things,  for  they  are  as  poison  to 
Pure  Love."1 

St  Philip  Neri,  who  counselled  a  holy  gladness  to  those 
whom  he  directed,  would  have  found  such  renunciation  ex- 
aggerated. The  Dialogues,  it  is  true,  expound  an  extremely 
high  programme  of  perfection,  accessible  to  a  few  only.  It 
is,  moreover,  as  we  know,  the  programme  of  the  Spiritual 
Combat  and  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Italian  writers. 

"  I  wish  thee,  O  blessed  soul,"  said  Blessed  Battista 
Varani,2  "  to  follow  my  counsels.  Thou  shouldst  serve  God 
not  as  a  slave  through  fear  of  temporal  punishment  or  of 
eternal  pain,  not  as  a  sinner  for  a  reward,  but  as  a  child  who 
renders  God  love  for  love,  blood  for  blood,  death  for  death. 
Such  is  the  short  way  to  sanctity,  the  hidden  but  sure  way, 
unseen  of  men  but  known  and  admirable  in  the  eyes  of  God, 
to  whom  all  is  naked  and  open." 

The  Dialogues  consider  that  even  true  friendship  is  con- 
trary to  pure  love. 

"  Nor  again  do  I  desire  thee,"  says  the  Spirit  to  Humanity, 
"  to  contract  friendship  with  anyone  nor  to  retain  a  special 
affection  for  thy  parents.  I  require  thee  to  love  each  one,  poor 
and  rich,  friends  and  neighbours,  but  without  preferences, 
without  human  love  or  attachment.  I  desire  thee  not  to  dis- 
tinguish one  from  the  other  and  not  to  bind  thyself  to  anyone, 
however  religious  and  spiritual."3  To  act  thus  is  to  practise 
very  great  renunciation ;  but  pure  love,  properly  understood, 
certainly  does  not  demand  it.  Let  us  note  these  exaggera- 
tions in  passing. 

The  Dialogues  explain  the  mystical  effects  of  pure  love 
more  correctly. 

When  it  has  stripped  the  soul  of  all  evil  passion  and  all 
imperfection,  love  dispossesses  it  again  of  itself  and  of  its 
natural  operations. 

"  After  this  creature  had  been  stripped  of  the  world,  of  the 
flesh,  of  goods,  of  exercises,  of  affections,  and  of  all  things 
— God  alone  excepted — the  Lord  desired  yet  to  strip  it  of 
itself  unto  the  division  of  the  S'oul  and  spirit  (Heb.  iv,  12). 
This  separation  is  accompanied  by  very  great  and  most  subtle 
suffering,  difficult  to  express  and  to  understand  by  one  who 
lacks  the  knowledge  of  it  by  personal  experience  enlightened  by 
divine  light.      God  poured  into  her  heart  a  new  love  so  im- 

1  Dialogues,  Part  I,  chap,  xv,  p.  253.  Cf.  pp.  251,  258.  The 
Dialogues  recognize,  however,  that  the  soul  filled  with  charity  "  no 
longer  feels  anything  but  love  and  jubilation,  and  thinks  itself  in 
paradise  "   (pp.  283  ff.). 

*  Acta  Sanct.,  May  31,  p.  495. 

3  Dialogues,  Part  I,  chap,  xviii,  p.  261. 


268  Cbdstian  Spirituality 

petuous  as  to  draw  unto  himself  her  soul  with  all  its  powers, 
as  though  they  were  removed  from  her  natural  being-."1 

Then  the  powers  of  the  soul  are  bound  :  the  understanding, 
the  memory,  and  the  will  are  submerged  "  in  this  sea  of  divine 
love  "  and  drawn  "  out  of  the  conditions  in  which  the  soul 
was  created."2 

"  Stripped  in  this  way  it  [the  spirit]  is  naked  in  God,  and 
is  retained  there  as  long  as  it  pleaseth  the  Lord,  who  leaves 
it  only  what  is  needful  for  the  life  of  the  body."3 

This  "  nakedness  of  the  spirit,"  of  which  mystics  speak  so 
much,  is  an  effect  of  love,  that  "  Pure  Love  which  must  be 
absolutely  bare  "  and  admit  of  nothing  else  than  itself.4 
When  love  reaches  such  purity  in  the  soul  the  latter  is 
ineffably  united  to  God. 

The  sources  of  this  pure  love  are  the  Saviour's  wounds, 
from  which,  as  from  "  five  fountains,"  flow  "  drops  of  burn- 
ing blood  and  of  fiery  love  for  men."5  These  wounds  are 
channels  which  pour  forth  in  us  the  sweet  and  precious  cor- 
dial of  love.  The  true  source  is  the  Heart  of  the  Incarnate 
Word.     Let  us  hearken  to  St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi  : 

"  What  is  the  name  of  the  vessel  which  contains  this  sweet 
cordial  [of  love]  ?  It  is  called  the  Heart  of  the  Word.  Small 
though  it  be,  it  nevertheless  contains  it  in  spite  of  its  abund- 
ance, and  it  yearns  to  pour  it  into  a  still  smaller  vessel,  which 
is  the  heart  of  the  creature.  .  .  .  Oh  !  how  right  it  is  that 
the  Heart  of  the  Word  Incarnate  was  chosen  to  be  the  source 
of  this  precious  cordial  !  From  what  mountain  has  there  ever 
been  seen  to  flow  so  abundant  a  source?  What  fountain 
has  clearer  waters  than  this  most  pure  love?  These  waters 
are  so  abundant  that  they  water  both  heaven  and  earth."6 

The  conditions  for  receiving  this  divine  cordial  which  flows 
from  the  heart  of  Jesus  and  for  living  on  it  are  summed  up 
by   the    saint    in   what    she   calls    "  the    alphabet   of   love."7 

1  Dialogues,  Part  II,  chap,  i,  pp.  273-274. 

2  ibid.,  p.  275.     Cf.  p.  335. 

3  id.,  p.  274.     Cf.  pp.  334-335,  337-34°- 

4  id.,  Part  I,  chap,  xiv,  p.  251.  Cf.  John  of  Fano,  Capuchin,  Arte 
della  unione  con  Dio,  Brescia,  1548,  and  the  commentary  by  Dionysius 
of  Montefalco,  Capuchin,  V Arte  d'unirsi  a  Dio  del  R.  P.  F .  Giovanni 
di  Fano  .   .   .,  Rome,  1622. 

5  Dialogues,  Part  I,  chap,  xii,  p.  247.  Cf.  St  Magdalen  dei  Pazzi, 
Works,  Part  III,  chap.  vii. 

6  CEuvres,  Part  III,  chap,  xxii,  Vol.  II,  pp.  300-301.  Like  St 
Bonaventure,  St  Magdalen  entered  into  the  Heart  of  Jesus  through 
the  doors  of  his  five  sacred  wounds  (CEuvres,  Part  III,  chap.  vii).  She 
is,  as  was  Battista  Varani,  an  important  witness  to  the  ancient  tradition 
of  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

7  GSuvres,  Part  IV,  chap,  i,  Vol.  II,  pp.  132-133:  "  A  =  abounding 
love.  B  =  good.  C  =  blind  (cieco).  D  =  Desirous.  E  =  exalted.  F  =  fervent. 
G  =  generous.     H  =  humble.      I  =  integral   (integrity   in).     L  =  luminous. 


3ts  Ueacbino  269 

This  alphabet  must  be  known  in  order  to  possess  the  love 
of  God. 


Among  these  conditions  one  of  the  chief  is  devotion  to  our 
neighbour.  Has  not  divine  love  God  and  our  neighbour  as 
its  object?  Moreover  the  members  of  the  society  of  the 
Amore  divino  were  strongly  urged  to  relieve  some  of  the 
wretchedness  of  the  time.  These  miseries  were  immense  on 
account  of  the  wars  and  political  troubles  which  disturbed 
Italy.  We  may  well  call  to  mind  the  horrors  resulting  from 
the  sack  of  Rome  in  1527,  when  on  all  sides  were  seen  the 
sick  without  care,  orphans  abandoned,  and  youth  left  in 
ignorance  and  depraved  morals.  It  was  with  a  view  to 
assisting  so  many  unfortunates  that  there  were  founded  the 
hospitals,  orphanages,  schools,  and  many  other  charitable 
institutions  at  that  time. 

The  Oratorio  del  divino  Amore  recruited  within  it  the 
servants  of  the  sick.1  Ettore  Vernazza,  its  founder,  was  also 
the  initiator  of  this  great  movement  of  charity,  which  caused 
hospitals  to  be  raised  in  divers  parts  of  Italy,  and  provided 
them  with  kindly  and  devoted  nurses.  Indeed,  we  may  ask 
whether  we  truly  love  God  if  we  refrain  from  succouring  the 
sick  when  we  can. 

"  Thou  wilt  do  all  that  I  shall  urge  on  thee,"  says  the 
Spirit  to  Human  nature  in  the  Dialogues  ;2  "  thus  thou  wilt 
cleanse  the  sick  and,  if  asked  to  do  this  even  when  speaking 
to  God,  thou  wilt  leave  everything  and  promptly  go  to  who- 
ever asks  thy  help  and  wherever  thou  art  led.  Nor  wilt  thou 
consider  either  who  it  is  that  calls  thee  or  the  work  thou 
hast  to  do." 

The  care  of  the  sick  occasionally  calls  for  very  great  renun- 
ciation. 

"  There  were  to  be  found  at  that  time  beings  full  of  all 
kinds  of  filth,  covered  with  vermin,  and  whose  stench  was  all 

M  =  mortified.  N  =  negative.  0  =  easeful — that  is,  not  occupied  with 
self  but  with  God.  P  =  pitiful  (sympathetic).  Q  =  plaintive  (queritante) 
as  a  bride  unable  to  bear  the  absence  of  her  husband.  R  =  red  with 
the  Blood  of  the  Word.  S  =  safe  and  silly ;  wise  in  choice  and  foolish 
in  ecstasy.  T  =  threefold — i.e.,  love  of  God,  one's  neighbour,  and  one- 
self. V=  vehement.  Z  =  zealous.  RU  =  ruminant,  that  is  thinking 
only  of  the  well-beloved.  The  whole  of  this  alphabet  should  be  known 
by  him  who  desires  to  possess  love." 

1  Almost  all  the  holy  persons  of  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century,  from 
St  Cajetan  to  St  Camillus  de  Lellis,  served  in  the  hospitals.  St  Philip 
Neri  nursed  the  sick  in  the  hospitals  of  Rome  (Capecelatro,  I,  chap.  iv). 
"  An  ardent  charity  in  the  service  of  the  sick,"  he  said,  "  is  a  short 
way  to  attain  perfect  virtue."     Bayle,  p.  405. 

2  Dialogues  de  St   Catherine  de   Genes,  Part  I,  chap,   xviii,  p.   260. 


27o  Gbristian  Spirituality 

but  unbearable  :  some  of  the  sick  gave  utterance  to  terrible 
words  of  despair  because  of  the  dreadful  misery  and  affliction 
in  which  they  were.  Thus,  entering-  such  places  seemed  like 
going-  into  tombs,   which   horrifies  everyone."1 

In  order  to  overcome  this  natural  repugnance,  divine  love 
may  suggest  putting  the  vermin  and  filth  of  the  sick  into 
one's  mouth,  as  several  saints  did.2 

Charity  towards  the  suffering  was  to  carry  impartiality  to 
the  finest  point.  To  shun  the  gratitude  of  the  sick  is  a  con- 
dition of  true  love.  The  Dialogues,  which  seem  to  analyse 
the  souls  of  the  great  servants  of  the  poor  sick  at  that  time, 
remark  that  "  sometimes  .  .  .  sick  folk  are  to  be  met  with  who, 
besides  their  filth  and  their  stench,  were  always  crying  out, 
complaining  of  those  who  served  them  and  insulting  them." 
Nature  suffers  from  this,  but  true  charity  does  not  let  itself 
be  repelled  by  anything.  In  this  connection  let  us  call  to 
mind  the  charming  lesson  which  Bernadino  da  Feltre  (-j-1494), 
that  great  friend  of  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  gave  one  day 
to  the  sick  and  to  the  nurses  of  a  hospital : 

"  In  the  book  of  the  sick,"  he  said,  "  should  be 
written  :  Patience,  patience,  patience,  and  in  that  of  those 
who  help  them  :  Charity,  charity,  charity.  But  each  should 
rest  content  with  reading  his  own  book  and  not  look  at  the 
contents  of  the  other,  for  in  the  midst  of  the  thousand  little 
incidents  brought  about  by  human  weakness,  if  one  ask  of  the 
other  :  where  is  your  charity?  he  endangers  his  patience,  and 
if  the  other  replies  :  where  is  your  patience,  he  endangers  his 
charity.  Let  us  not  be  like  the  schoolboy  who,  instead  of 
learning  his  lesson  in  his  own  book,  curiously  peeps  into  his 
neighbour's  ;  this  boy  will  not  be  able  to  answer  his  master's 
question,  and  will  be  punished."4 

Divine  love  often  prompted  generous  persons  to  live  in  the 
hospitals  to  render  service  and  to  consecrate  their  lives  to 
the  relief  of  the  sick.  The  Dialogues  thus  explain  this  form 
of  heroic  charity  : 

"  In  proportion  as  it  [humanity]  had  lost  the  habit  of 
self-love,  it  had  acquired  the  possession  of  pure  and  simple 
love,  which  had  made  it  more  and  more  humble,  by  entering 
and  dwelling  therein.  Thus  this  soul,  burning  with  love,  was 
consumed    in    the    divine    fire,    and    as    the    fire    constantly 

1  Dialogues,  p.  262. 

2  ibid.,  p.  265.  In  the  Dialogues,  divine  love  prompts  human  nature 
to  eat  the  vermin  of  the  sick  in  order  to  conquer  its  repugnance. 

3  Dialogues,  art.  I,  chap,  xix,  p.  262. 

«  E.  Flornoy,  Le  Bienheureux  Bernadin  de  Feltre,  Paris,  1897,  p.  70. 
Blessed  Bernardino  da  Feltre,  Friar  Minor  and  famous  preached,  was 
the  organizer  and  defender  of  the  pawnshops  in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  He  thus  fought  successfully  against  usury.  Cf.  Ludovic  de 
Besse,  Le  Bienheureux  Bernadin  de  Feltre  et  son  CEuvre,  2  vols.,  Paris, 
1902. 


3ts  ZTeacblno  27l 

increased,  it  was  consumed  more  and  more.  This  is  why  it 
performed  its  [hospital]  service  with  great  speed  and  never 
rested,  in  order  to  get  relief  from  the  fire  that  beset  it  daily 
more  and  more."1 

Is  it  not  a  love  such  as  this  which  impelled  St  Camillus  de 
Lellis  and  many  others  to  care  for  the  sick  with  as  much 
delight  as  they  would  have  tended  Christ  himself?2  It  was 
divine  love  again  which  suggested  to  St  Jerome  Emiliani  the 
thought  of  founding  an  institute  of  Clerks  Regular  to  take  up 
the  education  of  orphans.  What  unseen,  incessant,  and  un- 
tiring devotion  is  needed  to  instruct  these  abandoned  children 
and  train  them  in  habits  of  Christian  virtue  !3  It  is  a  work  of 
love,  and  without  love  cannot  succeed. 

In  this  connection  St  Angela  Merici  said  to  her  Sisters  : 
"  You  will  be  affable  and  kindly  towards  your  daughters. 
You  will  have  no  other  motive  regarding  them  than  the  love 
of  God  and  zeal  for  souls,  whether  you  warn  them,  give  them 
counsel,  exhort  them  to  piety,  or  strive  to  make  them  avoid 
evil.  ...  It  is  charity  which  leads  all  to  honour  God  and  to 
help  souls ;  it  is  that  which  will  teach  you  discretion  and  dis- 
cernment. From  charity  alone  is  learnt  how  to  be  sometimes 
indulgent,  at  others  severe,  according  to  circumstances.4.  .  ." 

1  Dialogues,  Part  I,  chap,  xxi,  p.  268. 

*  St  Camillus  de  Lellis  (ti6i4)  contemplated  Jesus  so  perfectly  in 
the  poor  that  he  asked  them  for  grace  and  forgiveness  of  his  sins, 
behaving  himself  in  their  presence  with  the  same  respect  as  though 
really  in  the  presence  of  God. 

3  See  the  Life  of  St  Jerome  Emilian,  by  Augustine  Turtura,  lib.  Ill, 
cap.  vii,  in  the  Acta  Sand.,  February  8. 

4  Souvenirs  et  avis,  2^  Avis,  Sainte  Angele  Merici  et  I'Ordre 
des  Ursulines,  Paris,  1922,  Vol.  I,  p.  413.  In  her  Testament,  St  Angela 
required  of  the  Mothers  who  were  to  rule  the  Ursulines  after  her,  that 
"  their  sole  motive  in  the  government  of  the  Company  must  be  the  love 
of  God  and  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,"  p.  420. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SAINT  FRANCIS  DE  SALES— DIRECTOR  OF  THOSE  IN 
THE  WORLD— FOUNDER  OF  AN  ORDER— MYSTIC 

ST  FRANCIS  DE  SALES  forms  a  school  of  spirit- 
uality by  himself  alone.  He  is  its  beginning",  its 
development,  its  sum-total.1 
In  the  ordinary  way  the  founder  of  a  school  con- 
ceives some  new  idea,  suggests  its  principles  :  then 
the  disciples  draw  consequences  from  it  and  formulate  the 
teaching"  with  exactitude.  This  is  a  work  which  becomes 
developed  in  a  religious  family  or  in  a  nation.  Thus  it  was 
with  St  Benedict,  St  Francis  of  Assisi,  Berulle.  The  disciples 
of  St  Francis  de  Sales  are  legion.  None  of  them  seem  to 
have  added  anything  of  importance  to  the  thought  of  the 
master.2  All  they  have  done  is  to  repeat;  they  think  them- 
selves happy  if  they  are  able  to  imitate  and  reproduce. 

Few  writers  are  so  subjective.  In  this  way  he  may  be 
compared  to  St  Augustine,  to  St  Bernard,  to  St  Thomas 
Aquinas,  or  to  St  Teresa. 

Not  that  he  was  self-centred  or  over  didactic.  He  studied 
the  writers  who  came  before  him  and  was  affected  by  their 
influence.  He  owed  much  to  the  Spanish  School,  to  John  of 
Avila,  to  Luis  of  Granada,  and  above  all  to  St  Teresa.  The 
Italian  School,  several  representatives  of  which  had  become 
known  to  him  in  his  studies,  deeply  influenced  him.  Was 
not  the  Combatimento  spirituale  his  bedside  book  for 
more  than  sixteen  years?3  But  he  made  their  teaching  so 
thoroughly   his   own ;   presented   it   in  a  light  so   peculiar  to 

1  See  the  first  three  Lives  of  St  Francis  de  Sales,  by  Father  de  la 
Riviere,  John  de  Saint-Francois,  and  Charles-Auguste  de  Sales.  More 
recent  Lives  are  by  Hamon  (revised  by  Gonthier  and  Letourneau)  and 
A.  de  Margerie.  Books  on  St  Francis  de  Sales  are  innumerable,  and 
I  shall  only  mention  those  of  which  I  make  use. 

2  St  Chantal  is  an  admirable  witness  to  the  life,  the  spirit,  and  the 
teachings  of  St  Francis  de  Sales.  It  does  not  appear  that  she  has 
added  anything  of  her  own  either  to  the  Salesian  spirit  or  to  Salesian 
spirituality.  The  same  must  be  said  of  Pierre  Camus,  Bishop  of  Belley, 
the  author  of  UEsfrit  du  bienheureux  Francois  de  Sales  (1639-1641). 
Some  critics  doubt  whether  it  always  reflects  the  "  true  "  spirit  of  the 
Bishop  of  Geneva.  Cf.  De  Baudry,  Le  veritable  esprit  du  Saint 
Francois  de  Sales,  Lyons-Paris,  1846.  According  to  this  writer,  the 
work  by  Camus  "  does  not  always  show  with  accuracy  the  spirit  and 
teaching  of  the  saintly  Bishop  of  Geneva,"  a  somewhat  severe  judge- 
ment.    Cf.  Henri  Bremond,  Hist,  du  sent,  relig.,  I,  pp.  149  ff.,  273  ff. 

8  CEuvres  de  Saint  Francois  de  Sales,  complete  edition,  Annecy, 
Vol.  I,  chap,  xliii,  pp.   189  ff.     This  edition  is  always  quoted. 

272 


Ubc  Salestan  Scbool  273 

himself,  with  infinite  shades ;  he  adapted  it  so  thoroughly  to 
the  thousand  needs  of  human  nature,  dealing-  with  every  sort 
of  temperament  you  will,  that  we  might  think  that  it  was  all 
his  own  work.  For  it  is  not  exactly  his  teaching  which  makes 
vSt  Francis,  de  Sales  original.  What  he  said  had  been  stated 
Or  perceived  before  him  ;  yet  never  had  it  been  said  as  he 
could  say  it.  That  which  characterizes  a  spiritual  writer 
is  less  what  he  teaches — which  must  of  necessity  be  tradi- 
tional doctrine  —than  the  way  he  teaches  it,  the  spirit  which 
animates  him.  Now  in  St  Francis  de  Sales  this  way  is  very 
special;  in  fact,  unique.  "The  flower-girl  Glycera "  was 
clever  enough  to  make  "  a  great  number  of  nosegays  "  with 
the  same  flowers.  St  Francis  de  Sales  was  also  able  to 
present  "the   lessons  of  devotion,"    in  a  new  way: 

"  I  am  indeed  unable,"  he  writes  in  the  Preface  to  the 
Introduction  to  the  Devout  Life,  "  nor  do  I  wish,  nor  ought 
I  in  this  Introduction  to  write  what  has  formerly  been  made 
known  on  this  subject  by  our  predecessors ;  they  are  the 
same  flowers,  dear  reader,  which  I  offer  thee,  but  the  nose- 
gay which  I  make  of  them  will  be  different  from  theirs  be- 
cause of  the  variety  of  its  arrangement."1 

It  is  then,  above  all,  the  knowledge  of  the  temperament  of 
the  Bishop  of  Geneva,  of  the  nature  of  his  soul,  of  the  charm 
of  his  spirit,  which  the  characteristics  of  his  spirituality 
reveal. 


I— THE    SALESIAN    SOUL— SALESIAN 
SPIRITUALITY 

Goodness,  gentleness,  tenderness — but  not  exclusively  in- 
deed—form the  groundwork  of  St  Francis  de  Sales'  nature. 
Though  gentle  and  peaceful,  he  could  be  firm  in  directing, 
and  was  able  to  rule,  knowing  what  he  wanted  and  how  to 
obtain  it.  But  he  must  have  made  an  effort  in  order  to 
become  so.  St  Charles  Borromeo  was  naturally  a  man  of 
authority,  impatient  of  opposition.  St  Francis  de  Sales  was 
by  temperament  inclined  to  conciliation,  to  compliance,  dis- 
posed to  yield,  given  to  looking  on  men  with  kindliness, 
indulgent  to  their  faults,  skilful  in  discovering  their  better 
side,  compassionate  with  them  in  their  wretchedness.  In 
order  to  remain  at  all  times  thus  kindly  to  all,  he  struggled 
all  his  life  against  a  keen  temptation  to  impatience  to  which 
intercourse  with  men  exposes  even  the  most  gentle.  He 
overcame  it  so  completely  that  his  intimate  friends  reproached 
him  with  being  too  easy-going. 

His  kindness  sprang  from  a  sensitive  heart,  easily  moved 
to  pity  : 

1  CEuvres,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  5-6. 
III.  18 


274  Cbristian  Spirituality 

"  Have  we  not  a  human  heart  and  a  sensitive  nature?"  he 
wrote  to  the  Baroness  de  Chantal,  who  grieved  for  the  death 
of  her  youngest  daughter.  "  Why  not  weep  a  little  over  our 
dead,  since  the  Spirit  of  God  not  only  permits  but  invites  it?"1 

He  himself  wept  over  the  death  of  his  sister  Jeanne  de  Sales: 

"  Alas  !  my  daughter,"  he  wrote  to  Mme  de  Chantal,  "  I 
am  but  a  man  and  nothing  more.  My  heart  is  saddened 
more  than  I  could  ever  have  thought ;  but  the  truth  is  that 
my  mother's  and  your  distress  have  both  greatly  contributed 
towards  it,  for  I  feared  for  your  heart  and  that  of  my  mother. 
But  for  the  rest,  praise  be  to  Jesus  !  I  shall  ever  be  on  the 
side  of  divine  Providence,  which  does  all  things  well  and 
orders  all  for  the  best."2 

In  giving  an  account  of  the  last  moments  of  his  mother  to 
the  Baroness  de  Chantal,  he  said  : 

"  I  had  the  courage  to  give  her  the  last  blessing,  to  close 
her  eyes  and  mouth,  and  to  give  her  the  last  kiss  of  peace  at 
the  moment  she  passed  away ;  after  which  my  heart  swelled, 
and  I  wept  over  this  good  mother  more  than  I  have  done 
since  I  was  ordained ;  but  it  was  without  spiritual  bitterness, 
thanks  be  to  God."3 

But  this  exquisite  sensitiveness  was  always  moderated  by 
a  very  perfect  piety.  He  loved  to  tenderness,  but  this  love 
was  always  supernatural.  Let  us  not  think  of  St  Francis  de 
Sales  as  simply  a  sentimentalist  !  This  is  how  he  himself 
speaks  of  his  heart  in  a  letter  to  St  Chantal  : 

"  I  believe  that  there  are  no  souls  in  the  world  who 
cherish  feelings  more  cordial,  tender,  and,  saying  it  in  all 
good  faith,  more  loving  than  mine  :  for  it  has  pleased  God  so 
to  fashion  my  heart.  But,  nevertheless,  I  love  souls  that  are 
independent,  strong,  and  not  effeminate ;  for  this  great  tender- 
ness confuses  the  heart,  disquiets  and  distracts  it  from  loving 
prayer  to  God,  and  prevents  entire  resignation  and  the  total 
extinction  of  self-love.  How  does  it  come  about  that  I  feel 
such  things,  I,  who  am  the  most  tender-hearted  man  in  the 
world,  as  you,  most  dear  mother,  know?  In  truth,  however, 
I  do  feel  them ;  but  it  is  a  marvel  how  I  make  all  this  fit 
together,  for  it  is  in  my  mind  to  love  nothing  at  all  but  God 
and  all  souls  for  God."4 

To  these  gifts  of  heart  there  were  added  remarkable  social 
qualities.  St  Francis  de  Sales,  in  a  home  full  of  affection, 
received  the  upbringing  fitted  for  a  nobleman,  which  rendered 
yet  more  perfect  the  happy  disposition  of  his  nature.  A  man 
of  the  world  like  few  others,  he  was  exceedingly  fascinating. 
The  charm  of  his  society  was  of  special  service  in  the  work 
of  directing  souls.  He  knew  how  to  be  attractive,  and  was 
so  without  effort,  quite  naturally.     Nor  did  his  noble  manners 


a 


CEuvres,  XIV,  p.   264.  2  id.,  XII,  p.  330. 

id.,  XIV,  p.  262.  4  id.,  Vol.  XX,  p.  216. 


ZTbe  Salesian  Scbool  275 

ruffle  in  the  least  any  of  those  who  came  in  touch  with 
him  : 

"  The  manner  and  speech  of  this  blessed  one,"  said  St 
Chantal,  "  were  full  of  majesty  and  dignity,  yet  always  the 
most  humble,  the  most  gentle,  the  most  simple  that  I  have 
ever  met  .  .  .  he  spoke  in  a  low  voice,  gravely,  sedately, 
and  wisely."1  St  Francis  de  Sales  carried  this  attractive- 
ness everywhere  :  in  his  person,  in  his  dealing's  with  others, 
in  his  piety,  and  in  his  direction.  He  is  identified  with 
lovable  devotion  : 

"  I  in  no  way  desire,"  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  penitents,2 

a  fantastic,  meddlesome,  melancholy,  vexatious,  gloomy 
devotion  ;  but  one  that  is  mild,  gentle,  agreeable,  peaceful — 
in  a  word,  one  that  is  a  wholly  sincere  piety  which  first  loves 
God  and  then  men." 

Italian  spirituality  gave  zest  to  this  natural  inclination  to 
put  that  which  is  beautiful,  touching,  captivating  in 
Christian  virtue  in  high  relief.  It  taught  our  saint  how  the 
devout  soul  may  be  inwardly  mortified— and  that  to  the 
highest  degree — without  allowing  this  deep-rooted  austerity 
to  appear  outwardly ;  and  this  teaching  he  himself  gives,  in  a 
masterly  manner,  in  each  page  of  the  Introduction  to  the 
Devout  Life  and  in  his  letters  of  direction.  He  thus  knew 
how  to  "  humanize  "  virtue  "  in  its  environment,"3  to  make 
it  beloved  by  the  world,  and  to  place  it  within  reach  of  all. 

Humanism  achieved  what  education  had  begun.  The 
natural  gifts  of  St  Francis  de  Sales  were  refined  by  the 
Humaniores  litterae  which  the  Jesuits  taught  him  in  their 
college  of  Clermont  and  in  Paris,  and  afterwards  at  Padua. 
Humanism,  even  that  of  Maldonatus  and  Possevin,4  could 
not  alone  produce  the  Salesian  spirit.  So  perfect  was  its 
affinity  therewith,  however,  that  at  least  it  led  to  its  com- 
plete development.  It  also  contributed  to  the  formation  of 
that  inimitable  style,  "  richly  adorned,  well  finished,  at  times 
euphuistic,  as  proper  to  the  period,  always  courtly,"5  which 
caused  devotion  to  be  so  much  beloved. 

Finally,  let  us  not  forget  the  great  influence  which  the 
Savoy  landscape  had  on  St  Francis  de  Sales'  imagination. 
He  himself  declared  that  he  discovered  one  of  the  sources  of 
his  inspiration  in  that  delightful  country.     One  day,  "  on  the 

1  CEuvres  de  sainie  Chantal,  II,  pp.  221,  222. 

2  Mme.  de  Limojon,  CEuvres,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  59. 

3  F.  Vincent,  Saint  Francois  de  Sales,  directeur  d'dmes,  Paris,  1923, 
p.  18. 

4  The  Jesuits  Maldonatus  and  Possevin  taught  first  at  Paris,  at  the 
College  of  Clermont,  and  afterwards  at  Padua. 

5  F.  Vincent,  p.  19.  With  reference  to  this  pictorial  or  intimate  style, 
which  "  touches  the  heart  deeply,"  see  Mgr.  Lavallee,  Le  rialisme  de 
St  Francois  de  Sales,  in  La  Documentation  catholique,  March  10,  1923, 
pp.  579  ff. 


276  Cbrfstian  Spirituality 

little  plateau  of  St  Germain,"  he  marvelled  at  beautiful 
nature,  above  all  at  the  azure  sheet  of  the  lake  of  Annecy 
which,  surrounded  by  high  and  picturesque  mountains,  spread 
out  at  his  feet. 

"O  God,"  he  exclaimed,  "how  we  desire  never  to  leave 
this  place  !  Here  is  just  the  retreat  for  the  right  service  of 
God  and  his  Church  with  our  pen."  And,  addressing-  the 
Prior  of  the  Abbey  of  Talloires  who  was  with  him  :  "  Do 
you  know,  Father  Prior,  that  thoughts  would  pour  down 
here  as  thick  and  fast  as  the  winter  snows."1 

From  the  castle  of  Allinges,  during  the  Chablais  mission, 
he  very  often  contemplated  that  emerald  sea,  Lake  Leman. 
He  loved  nature  and  flowers  and  living  creatures.  He  had 
in  his  heart  something  of  St  Francis  of  Assisi's  love  for 
animals.  Hence,  he  liked  to  find  rustic  comparisons.2  But 
he  had  no  time  to  study  the  properties  of  plants  or  the  habits 
of  beasts  for  himself.  He  obtained  them  from  the  old 
naturalists  and  from  the  bestiaries  of  the  Middle  Ages.  His 
flora  and  fauna  are  very  largely  book  lore.  Having  become 
obsolete  they  have,  therefore,  slightly  marred  his  style. 

To  this  human  side  of  the  Salesian  spirit  must  be  added 
sanctity,  sanctity  of  high  degree.  Grace  does  not  destroy 
nature,  it  perfects  it.  St  Francis  de  Sales  is  a  startling 
proof  of  this.  His  natural  gifts  of  goodness  and  gentleness 
received  from  divine  love  their  final  perfection.  An  heroic 
mortification,  though  hidden  beneath  an  outward  charm,  set 
aside  without  pity  any  obstacle  that  might  hinder,  ever  so 
little,  the  predominance  of  divine  charity  in  his  soul  that  was 
made  for  love.  The  gifts  of  grace  are  combined  with  those 
of  nature  to  make  St  Francis  de  Sales  one  of  the  most  per- 
fect and  most  attractive  of  all  the  saints. 

Salesian  spirituality  could  not  be  other  than  optimistic ;  it 
is  its  dominant,  though  not  its  only,  note.3  For  optimism, 
when  not  held  within  proper  bounds,  leads  to  error. 

1  De  la  Riviere,  Vie  de  Vlllustrissime  et  Reverendissime  Francois 
de  Sales,  Book  III,  chap,  xviii  {GLuvres,  I,  p.  xxxv). 

2  His  idea  of  the  world  is  very  like  that  of  Hugh  of  St  Victor.  In 
his  Lettre  sur  la  predication  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges, 
October  5,  1604,  we  read  :  "  The  world  made  by  the  Word  of  God 
everywhere  reflects  this  Word ;  every  part  sings  the  praises  of  the 
Workman.  It  is  a  book  which  contains  the  Word  of  God,  but  in  a 
language  which  all  do  not  understand.  Those  who  understand  it  by 
meditation  do  most  well  to  use  it,  as  did  St  Antony,  who  had  no  other 
library.  And  St  Paul  says  :  Invisibilia  Dei  fer  ea  quae  facta  sunt 
intellect  a  consficiuntur ;  and  David  :  Caeli  enarrant  gloriam  Dei. 
This  book  is  good  for  similitudes,  comparisons  a  minori  ad  majus,  and 
for  a  thousand  other  things  "  (XII,  p.  307). 

3  Cf.  Henri  Bremond,  Histoire  du  sentiment  religieux,  I,  pp.  104-127. 
F.  Vincent,  pp.  25-98. 


Ube  Salesian  Scbool  277 

St  Francis  de  Sales  wishes  us  to  fear  God,  but  lovingly.1 
Yet  it  is  love  far  more  often  than  fear  that  flows  from  his 
pen.  His  spirituality,  like  that  of  St  Augustine,  is  summed 
up  in  love.  It  views  the  Christian  life  from  its  inward  prin- 
ciple, which  is  that  of  charity.  All  is  reduced  to  this  charity 
and  is  explained  by  it.  God  is,  above  everything,  a  good 
and  merciful  Father,  who  loves  man  beyond  anything  we  can 
conceive.  If  he  deals  with  sin,  no  doubt  it  is  to  punish  it, 
but  this  again  is  because  it  frustrates  his  loving  designs 
towards  man. 

In  the  same  way  Salesian  spirituality  considers  human 
nature  not  so  much  in  its  original  fall  as  in  its  restoration 
through  Christ.  It  does  not  display  the  wounds  of  fallen 
man,  but  rather  shows  them  dressed  and  healed  by  the 
Redeemer.  Restored  humanity  appears  to  it,  to  some  extent, 
returned  to  its  state  of  innocence.  It  is  not  a  contami- 
nated thing  which  cannot  be  touched  without  our  becoming 
soiled.  It  is,  in  spite  of  its  wretchedness,  an  image  of  divine 
perfection.  St  Francis  de  Sales  has  nothing  of  the  pessimism 
of  St  Augustine. 

Nevertheless  he  was  Augustinian  from  other  points  of 
view  :2  first  of  all,  in  his  spirituality  of  love,  as  we  have 
just  said ;  and  then,  like  St  Augustine,  he  sets  in  relief  the 
work  of  grace  in  our  sanctification.  Not  that  he  restricts 
the  power  of  the  will,  as  Camus,3  Bishop  of  Belley,  would 
seem  to  have  us  believe.     He  does  not  dream  of  this  : 

"  What  is  as  wonderful  as  it  is  true,"  he  said  in  his 
Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,  "  is  that  when  our  will  follows 
its  attraction  and  gives  consent  to  the  divine  impulse, 
it  follows  it  just  as  freely  as,  when  it  resists  it,  it  freely 
resists,  although  the  consenting  to  grace  depends  much  more 
on  grace  than  on  the  will,  whereas  resistance  to  grace 
depends  wholly  on  the  will ;  so  loving  is  the  hand  of  God  in 
the  handling  of  our  heart,  so  adroitly  also  does  it  communi- 
cate its  strength  to  us  without  taking  away  our  liberty."4 

Salesian  thought  is  perfectly  precise  and  safeguards  our 
free  will.  But,  nevertheless,  it  takes  delight  in  describing 
divine  love  and  heavenly  allurements,  which  urge  on  the  will 
towards  the  way  of  sanctity.  On  this  point  it  is  more  Augus- 
tinian and  Thomist  than  Ignatian. 

1  "  Let  us  have  no  fear  but  of  God,  and  let  that  too  be  a  loving 
fear  "  (Vol.  XIII,  300). 

2  He  had  a  particular  affection  for  the  Bishop  of  Hippo.  He  spoke 
of  him  as  "  the  great  St  Augustine." 

3  Esprit  de  S.  Fr.  de  S.,  Part  III,  section  2.  Cf.  De  Baudry,  op. 
cit.,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  109  ff. 

*  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,  Book  II,  chap,  xii,  CEuvres,  IV,  127. 
We  would  note  that  the  famous  letter  of  St  Francis  de  Sales  to  Lessius 
only  speaks  of  predestination  -post  praevisa  merita,  a  more  humane 
doctrine  to  which  the  young  Francis  de  Sales  came  round  after  his 
temptation  to  despair.     Lessius  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  next  volume. 


278  Christian  Spirituality 

Salesian  spirituality,  like  that  of  St  Bernard,  is  very  affec- 
tive. It  ever  intermingles  pious  upliftings  and  ejaculations 
with  doctrinal  thought.  The  loving  soul  of  the  Bishop  of 
Geneva  cannot  be  retained  by  pure  speculation ;  heavenly 
charity  bears  it  quickly  away  to  God.  It  has  even  been  said 
that  the  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God  was  as  much  a  collec- 
tion of  prayers  and  meditations  as  a  work  of  mystical 
theology. 


St  Francis  de  Sales  is  before  all  things  a  man  of  action. 
He  wrote  only  when  the  interests  of  his  ministry  demanded 
it.  "I  write  only  by  chance  and  in  emergency,"  he  says  in 
his  Preface  to  the  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God.  Providential 
events,  indeed,  led  him  to  take  up  his  pen.  It  may  be  said  of 
him  that  he  lived  his  books  before  composing  them,  like  the 
monastic  lawgivers  who  themselves  followed  and  made  others 
follow  their  rules  long  before  prescribing  them. 

The  Introduction  to  the  Devout  Life  is  an  "  enlightening 
revelation  "  of  the  religious  experiences  of  its  author  and  of 
those  whom  he  directed.  St  Francis  de  Sales  shows  himself 
therein  to  be  a  most  zealous  and  experienced  director  of  souls. 
When  he  wrote  it,  between  the  Lent  of  1607  and  the  summer 
of  1608,  his  ministry  had  brought  him,  above  all,  in  touch 
with  people  in  the  world  : 

"  My  intention  is  to  instruct  those  persons  in  the  world 
who  very  often,  under  colour  of  an  alleged  impossibility,  are 
not  willing  even  to  think  of  undertaking  the  devout  life,  be- 
cause they  are  of  opinion  that,  just  as  no  beast  dare  taste  the 
herb  called  palma  Christi,  so  no  one  ought  to  aspire  to  the 
palm  of  Christian  piety  whilst  living  in  the  midst  of  the  press 
of  worldly  occupations." 

Yet  he  himself  was  persuaded  that  "  a  vigorous  and  con- 
stant soul  can  live  in  the  world  without  receiving  any  worldly 
taint,  can  find  springs  of  sweet  piety  in  the  midst  of  the 
briny  waters  of  the  world,  and  can  fly  among  the  flames  of 
earthly  concupiscences  without  burning  the  wings  of  the 
holy  desires  of  the  devout  life."1 

This  "vigorous  and  constant  soul"  was  Mme  de  Char- 
moisy.  Ever  since  he  knew  her,  about  1607,  the  Bishop  of 
Geneva  had  progressively  given  her  "  teachings  meant  to 
lead  her  to  the  Promised  Land  of  true  devotion."  These  are 
the  Advice,  the  Exercises,  the  Spiritual  Memoirs  spoken  of 
by  the  saint  in  his  Letters.2  These,  with  necessary  additions 
and  the  "grouping"  proper  to  a  work,  form  the  Introduc- 
tion, the  first  edition  of  which  appeared  in  1609. 

1  Devout  Life,  Preface,  CEuvres,  III  [English  translation,  Allan 
Ross  (B.O.W.)]. 

2  Preface  by  Dom  Mackay,  III,  xiii-xv. 


Ube  Salesfan  Scbool  279 

Next  year  St  Francis  de  Sales  founded  the  Order  of  the 
Visitation.  He  became  director  to  the  nuns.  He  gave 
spiritual  conferences  to  the  first  Visitandines  in  order  to  in- 
struct them  in  true  perfection.1  After  having  taught  people 
in  the  world  how  to  practise  devotion  he  now  had  to  explain 
the  duties  of  the  religious  life.  The  teaching  of  his  Spiritual 
Conferences  is  necessarily  more  elevated  than  that  of  the 
Introduction.  The  holy  founder  does  not  limit  himself  to  the 
principles  of  asceticism  ;  at  times  he  rises  to  the  most  lofty 
teaching.2 

Nevertheless,  in  the  midst  of  all  his  preoccupations,  St 
Francis  de  Sales  nourished  the  thought  of  writing  a  treatise 
on  the  love  of  God.  This  project  was  even  in  his  mind  before 
bringing  out  the  Devout  Life.  Divine  love  wholly  dominated 
his  life.  His  direction  had  no  other  end  than  to  make  this 
love  permeate  souls  and  grow  in  them.  He  wrote,  on  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1610,  to  Mme  de  Chantal  : 

"  I  am  about  to  put  my  hand  to  the  book  on  The  Love  of 
God,  and  I  shall  endeavour  to  write  it  as  much  on  my  heart 
as  on  the  paper."3 

At  first  he  had  no  intention  of  writing  a  treatise  on  mystical 
theology.  But  in  instructing  and  directing  the  first  Visitan- 
dines and  especially  Mother  de  Chantal,  he  soon  witnessed 
the  extraordinary  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  them.  He  had 
to  adapt  his  spiritual  teaching  to  the  needs  of  these  souls, 
thus  raised  to  the  mystical  state.4  This  led  him  to  modify 
his  first  idea  : 

"  I  proposed  to  write  on  holy  love,"  he  says  in  the  Preface 
to  the  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,  "  for  some  time,  hue 
this  project  was  in  no  way  comparable  to  what  this  occasion 
has  led  me  to  produce."5 

The  Daughters  of  the  Visitation,  and  especially  their 
foundress,  thus  in  their  way  collaborated  in  the  composition 
of  the  book.  They  also  urged  their  blessed  Father  to  hasten 
it.  And  he  devoted  every  moment  he  was  able  to  "  tear  from 
the  pressure"  of  his  other  duties.  The  work  appeared 
in  1616. 

1  Cf.  CEnvres,  VI,  pp.  8-9  :  "  Our  holy  Founder,"  writes  St  Chantal, 
"  often  visits  us,  hears  our  confessions  every  fortnight,  and  gives  us 
little  spiritual  conferences,  in  order  to  instruct  us  in  true  perfection." 

2  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,  Preface:  "  And  as  their  purity  and 
piety  of  mind  [the  Visitandines]  has  often  given  me  great  consolation, 
so  also  have  I  endeavoured  to  repay  this  to  them  frequently  by  the 
distribution  of  the  holy  word  ...  it  was  often  necessary  to  deal  with 
the  most  delicate  feelings  of  piety,  passing  beyond  what  I  had  said  to 
Philothea."     CEnvres,   IV,  p.  20. 

3  GEuvres,  XIV,